The 2015 Northwest Territories general election is set for November 23, 2015. Under the territory's fixed election date legislation, the election was supposed to be held on October 5, 2015, however, since the federal election date of October 19, 2015, overlapped with that date, the N.W.T. government moved the date of the territorial election. [1] The election will elect 19 members to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.
In March 2014 the current Legislative Assembly voted to extend its term from four years to five. The act will need to be approved by the federal government.[2] The reason given for postponing the election was to avoid voter fatigue, with municipal elections and the next federal election scheduled for October 2015. The decision by the assembly has prompted a petition calling for the Legislature to be dissolved early.[3]
A new election map will be implemented this election, the first since the territory was split in 1999. The report of the commission recommended three proposals calling for 18, 19 or 21 MLA's.[4] A 19-member proposal was adopted by the assembly in May 2014, and these boundaries will be implemented from the 2015 election.[5]
The Yellowknife City Council objected to the changes since the city was allocated only seven of 19 districts, despite containing around half the NWT population. The council asked the NWT Minister of Justice Dave Ramsay to refer the issue to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories for a constitutional opinion but this was rejected.[6]
