A byelection will be held April 4 to fill a Victoria city council seat vacated by Laurel Collins, who resigned in November to sit in the House of Commons.
Victoria council passed a series of staff recommendations Thursday that set the date for the election and appointed city clerk Chris Coates as the chief election officer.
The scaled-back election to replace Collins will cost an estimated $170,000, compared with as much as $360,000 for a standard election.
Collins won the Victoria riding for the NDP in the Oct. 21 federal election.
In December, council decided to save money on the byelection by cutting back on the number of election-day voting stations, eliminating special onsite voting at seniors care homes, and limiting the amount of communications and advertising done to inform people about the byelection.
The modified process reduces the number of voting stations on election day to five from 12, but offers more advance voting opportunities at city hall, with eight stations compared with five during a regular election.
Coates said Thursday that the election-day voting stations were selected based on population distribution, geography, accessibility and availability.
Council previously directed that the byelection include the use of an accessible voting machine and outreach to care facilities to inform them of mail-in ballot options.
As well, the city will mail out voter information to every Victoria household, and will continue to compile and post candidate-profile information on its website, something that was done during the last general election.
