Executive Council
November 7, 2014
Executive Council Identifies Procedural Error
The Office of the Executive Council advises today of a procedural error in the process leading up to issuing the writ for upcoming by-elections in the Districts of Trinity-Bay de Verde and Humber East. The identified error will not have any impact on the by-elections scheduled for November 25, 2014.
Officials within Cabinet Secretariat identified that an error relating to gazetting had occurred when the writ was issued. The Clerk of The Executive Council has consulted with the leaders of all parties, who have agreed that, while this error will have no practical impact on the candidates or parties, it must be fixed to ensure the validity of the elections. All parties have agreed to an amendment to the Elections Act to retroactively validate these two by-elections.
The amendment will be introduced in the House of Assembly on the first day it opens later in November.
The issuing of a writ of election is a standard process involving a series of steps. The process includes the Lieutenant Governor and other officials signing a proclamation, which is then conveyed to the Chief Electoral Office for the issuance of the writ and to the Legislative Counsel for gazetting. Gazetting is a process which is meant to inform the public and bring into effect certain regulations, proclamations and other legislative documents. In the issuing of the writ for the by-elections in Trinity-Bay de Verde and Humber East, gazetting did not occur until the following day due to an administrative error.
Internal processes within Cabinet Secretariat have been clarified to ensure such errors do not happen again.
The media are invited to a technical briefing by the Clerk of the Executive Council and the Chief Electoral Officer on Monday, November 10, at 10:00 a.m. The briefing will take place in the boardroom of Cabinet Secretariat, Fourth Floor, East Block Confederation Building.
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Media contact:
Milly Brown
Associate Secretary to Cabinet, Communications
Office of the Executive Council
709 729-4781
millybrown@gov.nl.ca
2014 11 07 5:00 p.m.