With an election to come this fall, Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc has made several changes to voting rules that affect its members.
Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir says one of the most significant changes allows band members who live on traditional Tk’emlúps territory to run for chief and council, instead of just members who live on reserve. That, she says, is something that many band members have been asking for.
“Because we have our own custom election code, it is a document that through the approval process by members, we can have that taken to a vote, and that certainly what we did,” Casimir said.
“Basically its now allowing for those that live within TteS direct ancestral territory like the city of Kamloops boundaries, going as far Chase, and probably Skeetchestn, you know looking at some of those outlying areas [to run for office].”
Other changes include allowing electronic voting to take place, which Casimir says would also allow Tk’emlúps elections to happen during a State of Emergency. Changes to electoral rules can also be made during a state of Emergency to comply with any provincial health orders that might be in place.
“This here would just allow an opportunity during a pandemic or even for remote access for individuals, like in a perfect world, when we’re out of COVID, it would also allow people who couldn’t travel to be able to have that option to vote,” she added.
A by-election on Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc set for Nov. 28, 2020 had to be postponed because of COVID-19 restrictions.
In all there were 25 amendments passed during a General Band Meeting this week, with Casimir noting most of the other changes were technical in nature. Voting at this recent band meeting was also done electronically, she noted.
“This was an historic event for TteS as it was the first time that TteS was able to use technology and vote online,” Casimir noted. “Technology was also used to stream the counting of the vote.”
Currently, Tk’emlúps band members are expected to go to the polls to choose a new chief and council on November 6.
