Advance voting begins for Vancouver election with 'daunting' ballot
The ballot in Vancouver’s city election is one of the longest in the country, and voters are being encouraged to take advantage of advance polls that began opening Saturday.
Not only is voting early a good way to avoid long lines, it may also give voters extra time to complete a ballot that’s described as rather intimidating.
“Oh my gosh, it is absolutely daunting," said Danielle Johnston, manager of democratic engagement for the City of Vancouver.
“This is literally my job and I find it daunting,” she admitted.
There are 137 candidates running for various positions, and voters are being asked to choose 10 city councillors, seven park board commissioners, nine school trustees and one mayor.
There are also three capital plan questions.
“If you are a well-informed voter, you’ll know who you’re choosing, but it can be quite complicated for somebody who’s doing it for the first time,” said pollster Mario Canseco.
In a bid to make things equitable, candidates are listed randomly, not alphabetically. That means it will likely take voters longer to find their preferred candidates.
There is no need to vote in every category, nor is their a need to vote for all 10 councillors or all seven park board commissioners, and so on.
“Let’s say you only have five councillors you feel strongly about," said Johnston. "You can select those five, leave the other five spots blank, (and) that is a fully valid vote.”
But voters must be careful not to choose more candidates than indicated on the ballot, or their choices will be deemed invalid. For example, nine school trustees need to be elected. Voters can choose none, a few, or all nine, but if 10 candidates are marked, the vote won’t count.
“This is more like a 6/49 ticket,” said Canseco. “You have to be very careful about the way you do it, make sure that everything is going to count, and not put more names than you have to.”
The good news is that the computerized ballot tabulator will catch mistakes on the spot, and an election official can provide a new ballot once the erroneous one is destroyed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Explosion at train station leads to discovery of stolen car on Montreal's South Shore: police
Police are investigating after a BMW exploded in the St-Lambert Exo train station parking lot on Montreal's South Shore.