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
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.