 Welcome to the first in a series of four presentations to help prospective candidates learn more about BC general local elections. So you're thinking of running in a BC local election. Thank you for striving to contribute to your community. This presentation will give an overview of local elections, including the principles, timing, main organizations involved in the legislation that sets the framework. In BC, local elections are guided by principles fundamental to all elections, including openness, accessibility, fairness, and honesty. In BC, local elections are held every four years. The upcoming local election is on October 20th, 2018. Across the province, general local elections are large in scale. In any given election, there are over 3,000 candidates running for more than 1,600 positions across 251 government bodies. These candidates run for positions as municipal mayors or counselors, regional district, electoral area directors, school trustees, islands trust, local trustees, local community commissioners, or specified parks board commissioners. Several organizations work together to administer and support local elections across the province. Individual local governments and school boards and elections BC are the main organizations that administer local elections. Other organizations that are involved by providing education and supporting materials are the Local Government Management Association, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Ministry of Education, the BC School Trustees Association, and the Union of BC Municipalities. Municipal councils, regional district boards and some school boards appoint a local chief election officer to administer local elections. The CEO is an important contact and resource for potential candidates. The local chief election officer is responsible for administering the local election in their local government or school district. Their responsibilities include booking voting locations and opportunities, accepting nomination packages, and announcing the election results. Elections BC administers, investigates, and enforces the campaign financing disclosure requirements, including campaign contribution limits and restrictions, expense limits, and election advertising rules. Please see their website or contact them for more information. The rules for local elections are generally the same around the province. These rules are enshrined in provincial legislation, including these acts. The legislation covers voter eligibility, campaign financing, election advertising, and election offenses, just to name a few. The legislation allows for some flexibility for local governments to make choices that are better suited to their local community through their election procedure bylaw and sign bylaw. For example, local government can decide whether to require a nomination deposit or if mail ballot voting will be available. Local governments may have a sign bylaw to regulate the size, placement, and removal of signs and public advertising. The rules may be different between local governments, so it is important to be familiar with the sign bylaw and the election procedure bylaw for the local government you are running in. Detailed information for candidates can be found in the Candidates Guide to Local Elections in BC, which is available online, along with other resources about local elections in BC. Thank you for considering running for a position as a locally elected official. Please see the other presentations in this series for information on general local election participants, candidate nominations, and voting and taking office.