6 vacant council seats remain after registration deadline passes

There are sixmunicipal council seats and seven district education council seats that remain vacant after Friday's registration deadline for candidates interested in running in the May 9 elections, says Elections New Brunswick.

That's up from two vacanciesand four vacancies,respectively, in the 2012 elections, said Chief Electoral Officer MikeQuinn.

Two of the regional health authority seats were acclaimed by the 2 p.m. deadline to file nomination papers, he said. By comparison, there were contested elections in all 16 health sub-regions four years ago.

The municipalities ofClair, Saint-Quentin, Baker Brookand Maisonette each still have one councillor vacancy, while Drummond has two, he said.

Quinn expects byelections will be held in the fall for vacant councilseats.

"A lot of municipalities would like to wait three orfour or five months, so they can get people interested in filling those vacancies," Quinn said.

The vacant district education council seats will be filled by ministerial appointment, Quinn said.

Nomination papers for the May 9 elections were due at2 p.m. on Friday.

In total, there are council positions in 105 municipalities, 68 district education council positions, and 16 regional health authority positions.

A list of the candidateswho have registered is available on the Elections NB website.