Nunavut Inuit org to open nominations for presidential vote

Mary Wilman of Iqaluit is the returning officer for the Dec. 12 election to choose a president for Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. The nomination period opens Oct. 31 and close Nov. 4. (FILE PHOTO)

If you’re planning to take a run at the president’s job at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. this Dec. 12, now is the time to start thinking about picking up nomination papers.

The nomination period opens Oct. 31 and closes Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. local time, NTI’s chief returning officer Mary Wilman said in a release Oct. 14.

That’s when candidates will be allowed to pick up their papers, fill them out and submit them to Wilman’s office.

The deadline is Friday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. local time.

Potential candidates who get second thoughts about running may withdraw their papers by 5 p.m. local time Nov. 7.

When the nomination period opens Oct. 31, potential candidates can get NTI nomination papers from Wilman, from community liaison officers or from NTI’s website.

This year, the four-year term of NTI’s incumbent president, Cathy Towtongie, is set to expire.

Towtongie has not yet announced if she will seek another term in this election, and no other potential candidates have made public declarations.

In the last NTI presidential election. held Dec. 10, 2012, Towtongie won 1,344 votes—only 19.6 per cent of the total—to defeat 10 other candidates.

Only about 35 per cent of eligible beneficiaries cast ballots in that election.

To be eligible to run in this year’s NTI presidential election, you must be at least 16 years of age as of voting day and enrolled as a beneficiary under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.

People who owe amounts greater that $500 to either NTI or to a regional Inuit association are also ineligible to run as candidates.

And NTI candidates must also submit completed criminal record checks.

That’s because NTI rules state that for the three-year period prior to voting day, any beneficiary convicted of an indictable offence, or whose jail sentence ended within that period, is not eligible to run for an NTI office.

NTI says eligible beneficiaries will have five ways to vote in this election:

• at advance polls on Dec. 5;

• in person on election day on Dec. 12;

• by mobile poll on election day on Dec. 12;

• proxy vote on election day on Dec. 12; or,

• mail-in ballot post-dated on or before Dec.12.