Vancouver sets byelection record for advance, mail-in voting

Chad Pawson · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 02, 2025 2:09 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

The City of Vancouver says successful 2 days of beforehand voting for the April 5 byelection, 7,671 votes were formed portion 6,400 mail-in ballots had been requested.

"Advance voting opportunities successful the Vancouver byelection person shattered erstwhile records truthful far," said a connection from Natti Schmid, the city's elections communications and outreach manager.

Vancouver announced details of the byelection successful precocious January aft coun. Adriane Carr (Green Party of Vancouver) resigned. Coun. Christine Boyle (OneCity) vacated her spot successful the autumn aft being elected to the provincial legislature.

The byelection comes astir 2.5 years into the existent council's four-year mandate and is seen arsenic a measurement of nonmigratory restitution with the ruling ABC Vancouver party's absorption implicit nationalist safety, fiscal work and improvement and density.

The metropolis held beforehand voting astatine a azygous determination — metropolis hallway — connected March 26 and April 1.

On the archetypal time of beforehand voting, voters formed 2,876 ballots, and connected the 2nd day, voters formed 4,795 ballots, the metropolis said.

It said some days "significantly" surpassed the erstwhile grounds of astir 2,500 ballots formed astatine a azygous voting determination successful immoderate election.

"After the archetypal 2 days of beforehand voting, Vancouver voters person formed 7,671 ballots total, an 84 per cent summation implicit the 2 beforehand voting days successful 2017," said the connection from Schmid.

WATCH | City hallway watcher explains the value of Vancouver's byelection:

Mail-in ballots

The metropolis said it has besides had a important effect for mail-in ballots, which it expanded to each eligible voters for this byelection.

The deadline to person a mail-in ballot has passed, but since March 18, 6,400 were requested compared to 647 successful 2017, erstwhile ballot by message was constricted to individuals gathering circumstantial criteria.

For comparison, during the 2022 wide election, 7,235 vote-by-mail packages were returned, representing 1.5 per cent of the vote, said metropolis unit successful January.

On April 5, wide voting day, determination volition beryllium 25 voting locations crossed the metropolis unfastened from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for eligible voters to formed ballots.

Candidates contesting the contention person said they are hoping for a greater turnout than successful 2017, erstwhile lone astir 11 per cent of voters elected the NPA's Hector Bremner. He amassed 13,372 votes.

City unit said, historically, byelections successful Vancouver person seen debased elector turnout, but voting truthful acold successful 2025 has exceeded expectations.

"The beardown information successful this byelection truthful acold is simply a almighty testament to Vancouverites' committedness to shaping our community's future," said Schmid.

In the City of Vancouver's 138-year history, lone 17 byelections person been held, according to the metropolis website.

There are 13 candidates successful the two-seat contention and they person been randomly selected to look connected the ballot arsenic follows:

• Guy Dubé 
• Karin Litzcke
• Rollergirl
• Charles Ling
• Ralph Kaisers, ABC Vancouver
• Lucy Maloney, OneCity
• Jeanifer Decena
• Jaime Stein, ABC Vancouver
• Sean Orr, Coalition of Progressive Electors
• Colleen Hardwick, TEAM for a Livable Vancouver
• Theodore Abbott, TEAM for a Livable Vancouver
• Gerry McGuire
• Annette Reilly, Green Party of Vancouver

Information connected eligibility, and however and wherever to ballot tin beryllium recovered connected the metropolis byelection web portal here.