Only 24 people took the opportunity to vote Wednesday at the advance poll in the byelection to fill a vacant seat on the Protestant school board.
Traditionally the voter turnout for trustee byelections in St. Albert is small. At the last byelection in June 2003, only 442 took the time to cast their ballot, said Michael Brenneis, associate superintendant of finance for the board.
The election was called following the September retirement of long-serving trustee and former board chair Morag Pansegrau.
The three candidates are Kim Bugeaud, Judy Huisman and Merrin Nuc.
Bugeaud, who is a social worker at the Misericordia Hospital, previously served as a trustee between 1995 and 1998.
Huisman, who works at Walmart, previously served two terms as a trustee from 2000-2004 and again from 2007-2010.
Nuc is a long-time resident of St. Albert and attended school here as a youngster. She later taught in St. Albert Protestant schools, most recently at W.D. Cuts and Sir George Simpson, before her retirement last June.
“If you are a resident of St. Albert in Protestant school district number six, it’s important that you come out and vote,” Brenneis said.
From a practical perspective, the School Act requires a byelection if the position of trustee is vacant with more than six months before the next general election, he added.
The regular poll is Monday, Dec. 5 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the district office at 60 Sir Winston Churchill Ave.
