Back on April 10th, 2024 -- former Central Coast Regional District Area "E" Director Jim Ward tendered his resignation, due to changing personal circumstances. Full background here
Accordingly -- the Board of Directors' of the Central Coast Regional District was required to call a by-election as per the Local Government Act (Sections 54 + 203) and the date of the by-election was set for Saturday, August 24th, 2024. 2 individuals put their name forward for the position and after all advanced and general voting opportunities were complete, Leslie Harestad was declared elected over Zachary Taylor by just a single vote - final election results here
However, like the Peace River Regional District back in October of 2022, and after careful review of election records, the Chief Election Officer of the Central Coast Regional District Area "E" By-Election determined that it is necessary to submit an application to the BC Supreme Court (Court) to challenge the validity of the election due to evidence of a person voting when not entitled to vote in Electoral Area E. Elections documentation indicated that an elector from outside of Area E voted in the election by mistake. There was no evidence to indicate this was done purposefully to undermine the validity of the election. However, due to the closeness of the election results, the ineligible ballot may have determined the overall election result and the validity of the election must be challenged.
Upon review of this application, the Court will decide whether a new election must be held in Electoral Area "E" of the Central Coast Regional District. Leslie Harestad will now take office as Area "E" Director of the Central Coast Regional District until such time as the Court issues a decision.
Like the Peace River Regional District declared in October/November of 2022 -- the Central Coast Regional District (CCRD) also declared that it is committed to upholding public trust in the democratic process and ensuring that proper elections protocols are followed. They publicly apologized to the candidates and voters who participated in this election and look forward to implementing a fair resolution, as decided by the Court. As this matter is now before the Court, the CCRD will not comment further until after the BC Supreme Court has made its ruling.
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