HYAS — The Village of Hyas held a byelection with Charles Goossen elected as a new councillor.
Two candidates ran in the July 8 vote for the vacant council seat in the village, stated election officer Brenda Hartley.
Goossen received 22 votes, while Gord Lincoln had 11.
Hartley was the returning officer for the election despite her resignation on July 2 as administrator of the village.
Both candidates attended the vote count. The Lincoln campaign raised technical objections to 16 out of a total of 49 votes cast.
“As returning officer, I conceded to the loser’s objections and penalized the winner by declaring the ballots in question spoiled and removing them from the count,” said Hartley.
The ‘spoiled’ ballots did not affect the outcome of the election, said Hartley.
There were around 75 eligible voters, with 49 votes cast. Before objections rendered some votes ineligible, Goossen received 36 votes, while Lincoln had 13.
“One of Gord’s objections affected some of the ballots in his favour as well. I removed two ballots from his count as well, leaving 11 unchallenged votes for him,” stated Hartley.
Goossen said he is looking forward to working with council and the village to build and maintain a good working relationship.
“Hyas is a great small community that needs some much-needed upkeep and maintenance to help prevent any future problems. I would like to help with the behind-the-scenes things, like making the community more appealing to help attract and welcome people into the community,” he said.
Goossen was scheduled to take his oath to office on July 24.
