THURSDAY
S I N C E
OCTOBER 23, 2014
1 8 9 5
Vol. 119, Issue 166
105
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Meet the Montrose candidates
INCLUDING G.S.T.
Follow us online
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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
MUNICIPAL ELECTION 2014
Election success tends to start at the top Municipalities use different ways to list candidates on election ballots BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
LIZ BEVAN PHOTO
They might be nice on the inside, but ahead of Saturday's Century 21 Haunted House, a werewolf and a mysertious Halloween creature are getting ready to spook and scare Trail residents. Rain or shine, the haunted house starts at noon on Saturday on the Esplanade along with other Spooktacular events.
Spooky fun set for this weekend BY LIZ BEVAN Times Staff
Boo! It's time for a Spooktacular weekend in Trail. For the third time, the community has banded together, rain or shine, to host a spooky, scary and fun two-day event to celebrate Halloween and the fall season – Spooktacular. There is a special Halloween swim at the Trail Aquatic Centre on Friday at 6 p.m. to kick-off Spooktacular. The event will have apple bobbing, games and a trick-or-treat activity in a haunted house. On Saturday, the second day of Spooktacular, there are plenty of chilling, Halloween-themed activities and events for kids and families including a hay-bale maze, a marshmallow roast and
much more. In addition to the much anticipated Century 21 haunted house and marshmallow roast with the Trail firefighters, the weekend will also be featuring PT the Clown, Halloween games, apple bobbing, face-painting, and free Halloween skate, a costume contest and free Halloween movie for all ages at the Royal Theatre explained Andrea Jolly, community and events coordinator for the city. She added that there is also going to be a trick-or-treat route with downtown Trail businesses for kids to get some candy. “We encourage everyone to venture into the downtown core to enjoy some Halloween fun.” Spooktacular also features a one-time
Saturday edition of the Trail Market on the Esplanade where vendors will have their products on sale and display in theme with the season. Jolly says Spooktacular is all about getting the community out and getting everyone together. “Halloween can be enjoyed by people of all ages,” she said. “It is a great opportunity to bring the community together to enjoy a fun-filled environment. Everyone is welcome and we can't wait to see your costumes.” Jolly says the city hopes to see it grow with every year it is held. The event also gives community members a chance to get out and enjoy the Halloween season a bit early. “For the last two years, we’ve wanted See TWO, Page 5
These days there is a science to almost everything – including how the outcome of an election can be influenced by the order of names on the ballot. It's not really a breakthrough idea. Consider searching in the Yellow Pages – it’s been documented that people tend to go with the first name they see in that heading whether it’s AAA Towing or Aardvark Consulting. That mentality supports a recent U.S. study that found candidates listed first on an election ballot get about two per cent more votes on average that they would have, had they been listed further down the list. The order of names on the civic election ballots is established into municipal bylaw, so the rule can vary community to community. Trail and Montrose use the local government “default,” which specifies that the order of names appear alphabetically by surname. The process is a little different in Fruitvale, after council established an election bylaw this year that orders the names be listed “by lot,” or by a draw. Sera Wilcox, Fruitvale's chief election officer, invited all candidates to the village office at 4 p.m. Oct. 17, which was the municipality's established deadline for withdrawal of candidates. “I prepare all the candidates names and place them into a 'hat,'” she explained. “Once everyone, who has indicated they would be present arrives, I asked one of the candidates to pull a name from the hat and the names are recorded according to the order they are pulled.” That is the order the names will appear on the ballot, she noted, and also the order they appear on our Notice of Election advertisement. Warfield also determines the order of the candidates names on the ballots by lot, said the village CEO Allana Ferro. The procedure bylaw includes informing the candidates of the time and place of the draw, she explained, and the names are typed onto separate pieces of paper of same size and colour. “Then the pieces of paper are folded in the same uniform manner and place in a container (mayors then councillors),” Ferro explained. Someone other than the candidates draws the papers one at a time, she added. See SPOILED, Page 5
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