It seems last Wednesday's municipal elections showed that, while the Battlefords are separated only by a river, they are far apart in their judgment of their councils.
The election of two mayors by acclamation might have suggested voters were happy with the performances of outgoing councils. But the council votes told a different story.
In North Battleford, two councillors, Grace Lang and Ron Crush were thrown out and replaced with newcomers. The returning councillors did not exactly return securely, with Ryan Bater receiving the most votes and Trent Houk in the number two spot. Houk, of course, had distinguished himself in his council career as a consistent "nay" vote.
But the results in Battleford suggested the opposite message. Susan McLean-Tady, the only incumbent running, received the most votes by a significant margin. And Al Blais, who distinguished himself from other candidates with opposition to many of outgoing mayor Chris Odishaw's decisions (going so far as to say that the town had "deteriorated" under Odishaw's watch), was firmly in last place.
In other words, Odishaw and his council received the voters' stamp of approval. Ian Hamilton's council, not so much. This is not to say voters necessarily disapproved of the direction the City went in the last three years, but they were OK with a change.
But the bigger surprise was the turnout. Very, very few people turned out to vote this year. In North Battleford, the turnout was around half of what it was in the last election. In Battleford, the percentage of voters was even lower.
Potential explanations for the pitiful turnout are many. The weather, of course, was dismal. In Battleford, stakes were low, with only seven candidates running for six positions. And the new photo-ID restrictions may have been unduly restrictive, without actually enhancing security, keeping many eligible voters from actually casting ballots.
As was pointed out at a town council meeting, plenty of people have driver's licenses with an old address or a post-office box instead of their current address. That little restriction, on a snowy, miserable day, might have kept people from the polls.
But whatever the reason, one wonders why only around a sixth of eligible voters turned up.
