Who won the 2008 Municipal Elections?
Of the 36 Municipalities that have a Mayor system, 40% of the Mayors were acclaimed.
Of the Municipalities that have a Ward system, which included 261 Councillors, 31% of those were acclaimed.
Interesting statistics from the 2008 Municipal Election
- Of the 36 Municipalities that have a Mayor system, 40% of the Mayors were acclaimed.
- Of the Municipalities that have a Ward system, which included 261 Councillors, 31% of those were acclaimed.
- Of the Towns with Councillors at large, which includes 141 Councillors, 8% were acclaimed.
- Overall, the number of Councillors is 402 in all municipalities, and 23% were acclaimed.
- The overall voter turnout for municipal elections in 2008 was 42.1% (This figure, however, does not include those municipalities where the mayor or councillor was acclaimed.)
What these statistics illustrate, is that a significant portion of our municipal elected officials are being returned to office without having to go through an election. For a country with a long democratic tradition and a province with a long municipal democratic tradition, this is arguably an indicator of Nova Scotia losing its democratic right to choose who is to represent us at the municipal level.
Without a contested election, the public loses the right to examine new ideas, new directions, hear healthy debate and provide direction to the candidates. But the most important factors is that the citizens have lost their democratic right to vote for a representative of their choosing.
Councillors Elected - 2008 Municipal Elections
Mayors Elected - 2008 Municipal Elections
NS Municipal Voter Turnout 2008
Related Voter Articles
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To vote for council, an elector must be 18 years of age on election day, be a Canadian citizen and have been a resident in the municipality for three months preceding election day.
At a principled level everyone who is eligible to vote should vote. Voting is part of our political freedom and should not be taken lightly particularly since so many Canadians died in defense of our freedoms including the right to vote.
The choice you make at election time is important. Who you choose to represent you will affect the quality of the representation you receive. It will also affect the quality of the council team and hence the quality of the council decisions. So here are some tips when deciding who to vote for.Of the 36 Municipalities that have a Mayor system, 40% of the Mayors were acclaimed.
Of the Municipalities that have a Ward system, which included 261 Councillors, 31% of those were acclaimed.
Offering
to stand for municipal election is certainly a noble and selfless
contribution to the betterment of your community but it is certainly not
the only way in which those who are so inclined can do so. Indeed there
are many ways to make a contribution many of which require much less
time and are not so much in the spot light.