MISSION (NEWS 1130) — Saturday is general voting day in Mission and residents will be heading to the polls to pick a new mayor.
The by-election comes as a former mayor, Pam Alexis, became the NDP MLA for the riding of Abbotsford-Mission.
Jennifer Russel is the Chief election officer for Mission. She says in order to keep voters safe, they’re following the same COVID protocols as the provincial election.
“We have a safety plan very similar to the safety plan that was used during the recent provincial election, we in fact, have some of their equipment on load to us,” she says.
The province provided tall plexiglass dividers to the municipalities on loan. According to Russel, the city just needs to pay for shipping, clean the dividers and send them back.
Over 1,100 mail-in ballots were also requested.
“Mission hasn’t used mail-in ballots before, but because of a special provincial ministerial order, much like other municipalities, we were allowed because of COVID to send out a general mail-in ballot.”
There are eight locations Mission residents can go to cast their ballots Saturday– voting closes at 8 p.m.