About Elections
Elections for chief and council, conducted under the election provisions of the Indian Act, are held every two years.

When an election is to be held, an electoral officer is appointed by the band council to run the election. If there is no band council in place, the electoral officer will be appointed by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

Anyone who is registered on the band list and is 18 years of age or older can vote in the election. To be a candidate for councillor, to nominate a candidate for councillor, or to second the nomination, a person must be ordinarily resident on the reserve. No such restriction applies for nominating, or being a candidate, for the position of chief.

Voters List
The electoral officer is responsible for preparing the voters list which must include all eligible voters living both on- and off-reserve. The band, or the Registrar, (depending on whether or not the band has assumed control of their membership) will provide the electoral officer with a list of the names of all electors at least 79 days before the election is to be held. The band will, at the same time, provide the electoral officer with the last known addresses of off-reserve members. The voters list will be publicly posted for community members to review. Any member of the community who is eligible to vote can ask for a revision to this list if necessary.

Nominations
A nomination meeting must be held at least 42 days before the election. The purpose of this meeting is to nominate people as candidates for the positions of chief and councillor(s) in the upcoming election. Notice for this meeting will be posted by the electoral officer at least 30 days before the meeting date along with the voters list. The electoral officer will at the same time mail out to each eligible off-reserve voter the notice of the nomination meeting and a voter declaration form. Candidates for Chief can be nominated through the mail-in process.

After the nomination meeting the electoral officer will notify any nominated candidates who were not present of their nomination. Any candidate can withdraw from the election; however, for their name to be removed from the ballot, the withdrawal must be received by the electoral officer at least 37 days before the election. If there are not more people nominated than there are positions to be filled, these people will be declared elected.

Voting
At least 35 days before the election, the electoral officer will mail to all eligible off-reserve voters a package containing a mail-in ballot and voting instructions. Mail-in ballots must be received by the electoral officer before the closing of the poll, on the day of the election, to be counted.

On the day of the election, the polls will be open from 9:00 am until 8:00 pm. Those eligible to vote living on-reserve should report to the designated polling station on the day of the election, unless they have made arrangements with the electoral officer to vote by mail-in ballot. On the day of the election, if a person's name is not on the voters list, they can still vote providing the electoral officer is satisfied that the person is eligible to vote.

After the Election
After the close of the election, the electoral officer will open the mail-in ballots and if they are accepted, add them to the ballot box. The candidates are permitted to have two representatives monitor the counting of the ballots. The candidate who receives the highest number of votes is declared the winner. The electoral officer will publicly post the results of the election showing the number of votes each candidate received not more than four days after the election. The electoral officer will at the same time mail the results to every off-reserve member. The ballots are then sealed in a envelope and kept for eight weeks following the election.

Candidates or eligible voters have 45 days following the election to file an appeal with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada if they feel that there were:

• corrupt practices in connection with the election;
• a violation of the Indian Act or the Indian Band Election Regulations that might have affected the results of the election; or
• a person running who was not eligible to have been a candidate.

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