By ALEX MCCUAIG, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A redistricting of County of Newell electoral boundaries is being rejected by an Alberta court after legal action was taken by two rural residents.

Late last year, County of Newell council passed a bylaw which would have realigned electoral boundaries while also reducing the number of councillors and divisions from 10 to seven.

But in his ruling dated June 30, Queen’s Bench Justice Thomas Rothwell ruled the bylaw didn’t comply with regulations set out by the Municipal Government Act.

Rothwell agreed with the arguments set out by County of Newell residents Donald and Kathleen Jacobson’s lawsuit, namely, that insufficient time was made available to launch and serve a petition from residents against the move.

The move to reduce the number of councillors and realign divisions was an effort by council to equal out the number of electors per councillor to an average of approximately 1,070.

This item is reprinted with permission from the Medicine Hat, AB, Medicine Hat News. For the complete article, click HERE

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