Essex council is set to discuss the term "re-elect" at their regular council meeting on Monday, April 4.
A notice of motion from Essex Councillor Sherry Bondy will be brought forward Monday night on the use of the term.
Bondy says this has been an ongoing issue since 2018, as Essex had appointed a deputy mayor in the past.
"We have three positions that have not been elected to that seat but rather appointed to council," she continued. "I'm wondering if council can have a discussion saying, should we really allow these candidates to put "re-elect" on their election literature and election signs."
She says the term "re-elect" can be misleading if the council member was appointed by members of council.
"There's a big difference between running in an election for the seat you're sitting in and being duly elected by the residence or being appointed by council colleagues. I don't believe it's democratic to be appointed by council colleagues, lets give the right message and have an unbiased election," she said.
Bondy says there's a lack of guidelines in the Municipal Elections Act that allows this to happen, and the Town of Essex and its residents deserve better.
"Since everything that happened in the 2018 election, we are overhauling how we have done elections. We've realized we need to stop the proxy loopholes, we needed to fix corporate resources and now this is just one of the last pieces of the puzzle."
If passed, the term will only be used when a candidate is duly elected in office by residents through an election, not an appointment from members of council.
Essex council meets at 6 p.m.