The City of Windsor has received an accolade for executing a by-election under circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario (AMCTO), awarded the city its E.A. Danby Award during its annual conference last week, in recognition of the city's execution of the 2020 by-election.
The election filled the Ward 7 city council seat vacated by the resignation of Irek Kusmierczyk, who was elected the MP for Windsor-Tecumseh. Jeewen Gill was elected to complete Kusmierczyk's term.
"Planning and executing a by-election during the ever-changing pandemic was a challenge that we enthusiastically accepted," said Windsor Records and Elections Manager Terri Knight Lepain. "With the health and safety of everyone involved being top of mind, we were able to deliver an innovative, safe and democratically sound by-election to the voters in Ward 7. New ideas, such as drive-through voting, one accessible polling location and pandemic protocols, were all possible due to the collaboration with the other recipient municipalities."
The by-election was originally scheduled for April 27, 2020, but was postponed due to the pandemic. The vote was held on October 5 and resulted in a 28 per cent turnout, higher than the percentage who participated in the city's last by-election, in 2013.
The city will use the feedback following the by-election as a guide to planning the next municipal election, which barring any additional vacancies on council, will take place October 24, 2022.
