Voters will go to polls on Aug. 12 to fill vacancies in 2 P.E.I. provincial districts
At least 3 candidates have been confirmed in each district already
Voters will head to the polls for two provincial byelections, which will fill vacancies in District 9 Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park and District 15 Brackley-Hunter River, on Aug. 12.
Officials initially said the byelection would take place on Aug. 11 but a correction was issued Thursday morning.
"Elections P.E.I. provided Executive Council with an Election Date Calculation Tool to assist in planning the date of an election and the advance voting days," reads the release from Elections P.E.I. "There was an error on this tool which unfortunately calculated an incorrect date for election day."
P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz said Wednesday afternoon that cabinet had passed an order in council to allow Elections P.E.I. to issue the writ of election for the two byelections.
"I would like to wish all candidates the best of luck over the next 26 days."
Both constituencies were most recently held by Progressive Conservative politicians. At least three candidates have been confirmed in each district so far.
The byelection results cannot change the balance of power in the province. Lantz's Progressive Conservatives have a comfortable majority in the 27-seat P.E.I. Legislative Assembly, with 19 seats compared to three each for the Liberals and the Green Party.
District 15 is the riding former premier Dennis King held until his resignation as party leader and MLA in February. He is now Canada's ambassador to Ireland.
In alphabetical order, Kent Dollar is the P.C. candidate, Nicole Ford is running for the Liberals, and NDP Leader Michelle Neill is that party's confirmed candidate.
The District 9 seat became vacant after MLA Natalie Jameson resigned to run as the Conservative candidate in the federal riding of Charlottetown. She lost to incumbent Liberal Sean Casey.
Jameson's husband, Dennis Jameson, has been confirmed as the P.C. candidate for District 9. Carolyn Simpson is running for the Liberals and Simone Webster is the NDP candidate.
The deadline for candidate nominations is Friday, July 25 at 2 p.m.
Elections P.E.I. says advance polls will take place in both districts from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 2; Monday, Aug. 4 and Friday, Aug. 8
People can update their voter information and find more details about the byelections on the Elections P.E.I. website.