No candidates yet for MAA board

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There were still no nominations for the six Metis Association of Alberta (MAA) board seats to be contested in elections this year with only 10 days left until the nominations deadline.

The deadline for nominations is August 8 at 5 p.m.. Nominees have until August 12 at 2 p.m. to withdraw. Advance polls are set for Saturday, August 30, and the election will be held Monday, September 8.

Polling booths will be set up in each community where there is a Metis Local.

Earlier this year, the MAA unsuccessfully attempted to extend the term of office

of the current board so that no election would be required this year, but the motion was defeated at a special assembly called for that purpose.

Chief Electoral Officer Ron LaRocque is still hopeful that there will be candidates from each of the MAA zones for the six positions. He notes that although there are no bylaws specifying the number of members' signatures required to make nomination papers valid, he is telling those who inquire to get the signatures of 10 members "but I'll probably accept those with only one or two signatures."

LaRocque has suggested a change in the bylaws to require 10 signatures on nomination papers for all MAA board positions.

A smaller turnout at the polls is expected because the MAA presidency and six zone vice-president positions are not being contested since they were elected for president, six zone vice-presidents and six board members, there was a 65 per cent turn out, with 2,339 of 3,726 eligible electors voting. The highest turnout was Local 115 at Lac La Biche where 97.5% voted in a heavily contested battle for zone 1 vice-president won by Richard "Sonny" Bourque.

The lowest turnout of voters was in Zone 6, where only 48 per cent voted.

At the MAA annual assembly to be held in Athabasca August 22, 23 and 24, members will be asked to change the election format again. If the proposal is approved, elections for all positions will be held every three years, beginning in 1987.

The primary reason for the change, LaRocque says, is the high cost of holding elections every year.

To cut costs this year, there will be no new enumeration of members. LaRocque feels an enumeration is not necessary because the MAA membership list, which is now on computer, is being updated on an ongoing and constant basis.

An additional measure to cut costs will be the use of zone vice-presidents as election officials, and having deputy returning officers and clerks responsible for more than one polling station.