WEYBURN - Results from the November 2024 civic election for Division 1 in the RM of Weyburn have been overturned.
The decision was handed down Jan. 29 by Justice C.L. Dawson in Court of King's Bench in Weyburn. It states the election of Doug Dembiczak as Division 1 councillor was invalid and he had to be removed as Division 1 councillor. The RM of Weyburn's website now lists the Division 1 councillor seat as being vacant.
According to the results posted on the RM of Weyburn's Facebook page, Dembiczak defeated Michael Dorsch 32-31 in the division. The RM's report said there weren't any rejected or spoiled ballots, and no ballots were objected to.
Dorsch sought to have the results overturned.
In a message posted to its Facebook page, the RM said there were a number of ineligible voters who cast ballots in Division 1, and those voters might have influenced the Division 1 results.
"In accordance with the Local Government Election Act, 2015, the RM will be working diligently to organize a byelection in the coming months to fill the vacancy," the Facebook message stated.
A date for the by-election has not been set. Details regarding the nomination process, election dates and voting procedures will be shared with the public as they become available.
In an interview with SaskToday, Dembiczak confirmed there were votes cast by people not eligible to vote in Division 1. Dembiczak said he brought forward concerns about voter eligibility when he was previously the councillor for Division 4.
"This just brings some of these problems to light. We definitely need election reform to make this process work properly. If the system is not fixed, we're just going to keep having these problems," Dembiczak said.
He encourages RM residents to contact their councillors to take action to make the election system work properly.
He said he would run in the byelection when it happens.
It's not just the Weyburn RM that has issues with its elections, Dembiczak said, it's a problem for the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities.
"It wouldn't take that much, I don't think, to fix it, but it's got to be done right," said Dembiczak.
Both Dembiczak and RM Reeve James (Bud) Grohn said they don't plan to appeal the ruling.
Dorsch was not immediately available for comment.
