Tsiigehtchic residents will take to the polls on March 11 to elect a chief and council, close to nine months after last summerSA国际影视传媒檚 chief election result was overturned.

Nominations are open for the positions until Feb. 11, and forms can be requested from chief electoral officer Mary Beckett at the Gwichya GwichSA国际影视传媒檌n Band Office.

Beckett said sheSA国际影视传媒檚 given out some forms but none had yet been filed by last Wednesday.

SA国际影视传媒泪迟SA国际影视传媒檚 pretty early days so I would not expect to see them yet,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

Last yearSA国际影视传媒檚 June 18 election had Russel Andre winning the seat at 56 votes, followed by incumbent Phillip Blake at 55 votes.

The results were appealed by Blake, and an election committee voted unanimously to redo the election by early July.

Blake has remained chief in the interim.

Andre says he intends to run again. News/North was unable to reach Blake by press time.

Mail-in, online and phone-in voting will take place at the same time as in-person voting on March 11.

After Feb. 28, out-of-town voters who have addresses in the system will be sent notifications with the candidates and voter identification numbers, which they can use online or over the phone to verify their identity and allow them to vote.

Beckett says mail-in voters should contact the band office as soon as possible so that ballots can be sent out as soon as possible. In turn, they should also not delay on sending the ballots, to allow for possible delays in mail delivery on both sides.

Last year, band manager Larry Dalley said a reason behind this was that mail-in ballots were sent out too late to out-of-town voters, contravening the bandSA国际影视传媒檚 election code.

SA国际影视传媒�I wasn't here and I have nothing to do with it so I can't answer the really big questions,SA国际影视传媒� Beckett said.

SA国际影视传媒�I know that the procedures were not followed and that the election committee decided that there were enough problems with the way it was conducted that they would nullify it and start over.SA国际影视传媒�

This year, Beckett intends to follow the communitySA国际影视传媒檚 election code as close to the letter as possible.

SA国际影视传媒淭hat's the best I can do as, as a chief electoral officer.SA国际影视传媒�

Each election in Tsiigehtchic has been controversial since 2014, despite the election code being rewritten in 2015.

Andre is currently in Hay River attending the Marine Training Centre, and will be running his campaign from afar.

He says heSA国际影视传媒檚 still unsatisfied with how the election results were overturned.

SA国际影视传媒�Anywhere else, if you have an election like that and the results as is, other parties would be getting involved in it,SA国际影视传媒� said Andre.

Spokespeople for both federal Indigenous Services Canada and territorial Department of Municipal and Community Affairs told News/North last year they donSA国际影视传媒檛 have authority over the election, as the band has its own custom code.