Alberta appoints new chief electoral officer

Alberta has a new chief electoral officer, Elections Alberta announced Friday.

O. Brian Fjeldheim was appointedthrough an order in council from the Alberta legislature that came into effecton Wednesday.

Fjeldheim has more than 20 years of electoral experience, including seven years as chief electoral officer for Alberta between 1998 and 2005.

He has recently returned from Afghanistan, where he worked with the Election Complaints Commission, looking into how the presidential election was run.

Fjeldheim takes over from Lorne Gibson, whose contract wasn't renewed last March after a vote by an all-party legislature committee.

The eight committee members from the governing provincial Progressive Conservatives voted to removeGibson, while the three Opposition members wanted to keep him.

Gibsonsuggested more than 100 reforms to the province's electoral system in 2008after the lowest voter turnout in Alberta history, at just41 per cent.

By Alberta law,a chief electoral officer's appointmentexpires 12 months after an election, unlessre-appointed.