Acho Dene Koe First Nation schedules September chief election

The Acho Dene Koe First Nation says a fresh attempt to elect a chief will be made in September 2022, more than two years after an election was due.

A new chief was supposed to be elected in June 2020. The First Nation used pandemic-related federal legislation to twice postpone the election, then an appeals committee ordered that the results of an April 2021 election be scrapped.

Since then, a court has ruled the First Nation didn’t have the authority to postpone its election in the first place and an acting sub-chief has been appointed to provide leadership in the interim.

On Friday, the First Nation announced on Facebook a schedule for a new election.

Nominations for chief will open at 9am on May 31 and close at 4pm on June 14, the First Nation said. The schedule suggests candidates will be asked to prove they owe no debt to the band beyond $500 and confirm their residency.

A day of online voting will be held on September 6, the schedule states, followed by in-person voting on September 7. Mail-in ballots will also be available.

Preliminary results are expected some time after 8pm on September 7.