Inverness county voters return familiar faces to council
December 19, 2024

With councillors, Bonny MacIsaac, John MacLennan, Blair Phillips returned by acclamation, the other three other sitting members of council were returned by their constituents.
In district one (Chéticamp/Pleasant Bay/Meat Cove) Claude Poirier more than matched his two competitors combined, garnering 731 votes with a turnout of 62%.
Lynn Chisholm, councillor for district five (Port Hood/Mabou) also took home the majority of the vote with 811 ballots expressed in her favour and a 54% turnout. In district 6 (Judique/Port Hastings/ West Bay) Catherine Gillis received 857 votes also with a turnout of 54%.
During the 5 November special meeting of council, the six councillors swore their oath of office, certified by Justice of the Peace Lynne van de Ven.
Cllr Bonny MacIsaac was then nominated for the role of warden, and as she was the only nominee, she was duly sworn in as Warden, while Lynn Chisholm was nominated and sworn in as Deputy Warden.
This election marked the first time that the municipal vote was conducted by electronic means only – voters had the option to vote online or by phone. Each district also had a voting kiosk – or ‘voter assistance location’ – where elections staff were on hand throughout the day to help any electors that needed assistance, or who were unable to vote from their home. This approach was successfully trialled in two separate byelections in 2022, but this was the first time the full council election was done solely by electronic ballot.
This year, the voter assistance locations were fairly busy throughout the day with some 115 voters making use of the service which was offered at convenient locations: Les Trois Pignons in Chéticamp, the municipal office in Port Hood, and the Port Hastings Fire Hall.
Electronic voting had a very favourable impact on the cost to the municipality of organizing the election, cutting the budget needed to half of what was spent in the past. Electronic voting is not only secure, but also more efficient: voters were able to cast their ballots during the weeks leading up to the election at their own convenience. The results could also be ascertained in record time, and the municipality declared its final results just hours after voting had closed.