1994 Legislative Session: 3rd Session, 35th Parliament
FIRST READING
The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
1 That at the opening of the first Session of a Parliament, or whenever the office of the Speaker becomes vacant, the Assembly shall make the election of a Speaker the first order of business, which shall not be interrupted by any other proceeding.
2 The election of Speaker shall be conducted by secret ballot as follows:
(a) any Member who does not wish to be considered for election to the Office of Speaker shall, not later than 6:00 p.m. on the day preceding the day on which the election of a Speaker is expected to take place, in writing, so inform the Clerk of the House who shall prepare a list of such Members' names together with a list of the names of all Ministers of the Crown and party leaders;
(b) all Members, other than those included on the list described in paragraph (a) of this section, shall be eligible for election to the Office of Speaker;
(c) the Clerk shall announce that the list prepared pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section is available for reviewing in the Office of the Clerk;
(d) each Member shall have one vote in the election of a Speaker which shall be by secret ballot;
(e) Members shall be provided with ballot papers by the Clerk of the House;
(f) Members wishing to indicate their choice for the Office of Speaker shall check off the name of a Member on the ballot paper;
(g) Members shall deposit their completed ballot papers in a box provided for that purpose on the table;
(h) the Clerk shall immediately after the voting, conduct a count of all ballots cast by the Members of the Assembly;
(i) in the event of no Member having received a majority of the votes cast the Clerk shall provide the names of the candidates for the next ballot provided that the Clerk shall first determine the number representing the least total number of votes cast and the Clerk shall exclude the names of all Members having received that total number of votes, together with the names of all Members having received ten percent or less of the total votes cast, from the list of candidates so provided, and provided that in the event of every candidate receiving the same number of votes no names shall be excluded from the list so provided;
(j) subsequent ballots shall be conducted in the manner prescribed in paragraphs (d) through (i) of this section.
3 Upon a Member receiving a majority ballot, the said Member shall be declared the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.
4 During the election of a Speaker there shall be no debate and no questions of privilege.
5 No Minister of the Crown, nor party leader, shall be eligible for election to the Office of Speaker.
This Act will allow for the election of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia by free vote and closed ballot.
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