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Unofficial elections results: Athabasca County and Village of Boyle

Residents of the Town of Athabasca have voted to wipe the slate clean in the 2017 municipal election. Colleen Powell will serve as mayor, more than doubling the runner up Roger Morrill’s ballots.
Athabasca County elections “bean counter” Brian Pysyk puts some of the unofficial numbers up on the board at the county’s office Oct. 16 as the votes were
Athabasca County elections “bean counter” Brian Pysyk puts some of the unofficial numbers up on the board at the county’s office Oct. 16 as the votes were counted.

Residents of the Town of Athabasca have voted to wipe the slate clean in the 2017 municipal election.

Colleen Powell will serve as mayor, more than doubling the runner up Roger Morrill’s ballots.

No councillors from the previous term will serve as elected officials in the upcoming term, as only new ones were voted in.

Michael Arychuk, Robert Balay, Tannia Cherniwchan, Ida Edwards, David Pacholok and John Traynor were voted to have a seat at the table.

The ballot summary is as follows:

For mayor:

Laurie Bonnell- 56

Roger Morrill- 222

Colleen Powell- 474

Robert Woito-115

For council:

Michael Arychuk- 419

Robert Balay- 641

Dan Bonnell- 126

Tannia Cherniwchan- 535

Ida Edwards- 398

Neil Galus- 327

Shelly Gurba- 186

Heather Kariel- 230

David Pacholok- 494

Joanne Peckham- 61

Steven Schafer- 212

John Traynor- 598

After hearing the results of the polling – which took four hours to count – Powell said she wanted to thank all of those that contributed to her campaign.

“I’m really delighted. I want to thank all the voters that supported me.”

The municipal elections held across Alberta Oct. 16 saw some new faces win seats as councillors, while some old hands will be hanging up their hats.

Athabasca County’s new council will include Dwayne Rawson, Christine Bilsky, Kevin Haines, Penny Stewart, Larry Armfelt and Warren Griffin.

The vote breakdown was:

Allen Balay: 85

Dwayne Rawson: 217

Christine Bilsky: 161

Douglas Slatnik: 148

Mike Cottrell: 119

Kevin Haines: 216

Jack Dowhaluk: 118

Penny Stewart:125

Larry Armfelt: 165

Gloria Bury: 136

Warren Griffin: 164

Harold Krawec:119

Three seats had already been acclaimed for Athabasca County, including Division 2 (Dennis Willcott), Division 3 (Doris Splane), and Division 7 (Travais Johnson).

Mike Antal, Colin Derko, Pat Ferguson, Shelby Kiteley and Barbara Smith won seats on council, while Sam Assaf lost his.

The vote count was as follows:

Mike Antal: 165

Sam Assaf: 107

Colin Derko: 199

Pat Ferguson: 144

Shelby Kiteley: 183

Barbara Smith: 162

The Village of Boyle’s chief administrative officer Charlie Ashbey served as the returning officer for the election. He said the day went well, with a fairly steady stream of people.

“In addition, I haven’t been here all day, but when I was I kind of do a little fact-finding and ask people, and I’ve had some input from people and some questions,” he said. “It’s a productive day.”

He also said election day is just that – one day. During the rest of the four-year term, anyone can speak to council members, even business owners who do not live in the village.

“Voting is just one day out of four years,” he said. “If you just think that that one day is your opportunity to voice yourself, well, you’re wrong.”

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