THE all-party special committee to appoint a chief electoral officer has unanimously recommended to the legislative assembly that Anton Boegman be appointed as chief electoral officer.

The committee’s recommendation is included in a report that was released on Monday.

“The chief electoral officer is responsible for conducting provincial elections and referendums, enforcing electoral legislation, and maintaining voter lists and readiness to conduct electoral events,” said Jagrup Brar, committee chair. “Committee members were impressed by Mr. Boegman’s extensive experience with Elections BC, most recently as deputy chief electoral officer, his commitment to the organization and his passion for electoral administration.”

“We are confident Mr. Boegman will provide strong leadership as British Columbia’s next chief electoral officer,” added Doug Clovechok, committee deputy chair. “We also thank Dr. Keith Archer for his exceptional service to the province over the last seven years as chief electoral officer, and for the professionalism and commitment he brought to that role.”

The chief electoral officer is a non-partisan officer of the legislature responsible for the fair, impartial and efficient administration of electoral events in British Columbia, pursuant to the Election Act, the Referendum Act, the Recall and Initiative Act, and the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act. The appointment is for a term of two provincial general elections plus one year, and will take effect on June 1, 2018.

The committee’s report is available at: www.leg.bc.ca/cmt/ceo

The members of the committee are:

* Jagrup Brar, MLA Surrey-Fleetwood (chair)

* Doug Clovechok, MLA Columbia River-Revelstoke (deputy chair)

* Adam Olsen, MLA Saanich North and the Islands

* Janet Routledge, MLA Burnaby North

* Jackie Tegart, MLA Fraser-Nicola

BOEGMAN is the deputy chief electoral officer (electoral operations) at Elections BC. Acknowledged as an innovator and passionate about elections, Boegman’s main focus has been reducing accessibility barriers to voting, and improving services to voters and other electoral stakeholders.

For the past 13 years, he has been immersed in the requirements of election administration. Since joining Elections BC in 2004, Boegman has worked in increasingly senior positions, assuming his current role in 2011. He has a comprehensive and detailed understanding of electoral principles, legislation and operations, as well as voter registration and electoral geography. A planning expert, he co-developed Elections BC’s unique electoral planning framework, elements of which have been adopted by other Canadian electoral agencies.

Currently, Boegman leads the electoral operations, voter registration and boundaries, and corporate planning and event leadership teams. He played a key senior leadership role in the operational delivery of the past three provincial general elections, a vote-by-mail referendum and plebiscite, and eight provincial by-elections.

A strong supporter of building the election community body of knowledge, Boegman is on the steering committee for the Council on Government Ethics Laws (COGEL), an international organization dedicated to furthering best practices in government ethics, freedom of information, campaign finance and elections. He has presented at international election conferences and is the lead operations instructor with the Canadian Society for Election Official Training.

Prior to joining Elections BC, Boegman served seven years as a naval officer with the Royal Canadian Navy, was part of the initial start-up administration at Royal Roads University, and worked as a technology project manager in the post-secondary education field, as well as privately as a management consultant.

He graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1988 with a bachelor of arts and obtained a master of business administration from Athabasca University in 2001. He also is a certified project management professional (PMP), and has been a member of Project Management International since 2003.

Boegman is active in his local community, having coached youth soccer for 11 years. He has been recognized as the Lower Island Soccer Coach of the Year and is a recipient of the Clarke Fair Play Award by B.C. Soccer.

Boegman is married with two teenaged sons.