WATCH: One of the characteristics of these municipal elections? High turnout. Jeremy Hunka reports.
From Atlin to White Rock, voters across British Columbia chose their municipal leaders for the next four years.
READ MORE: Our entire 2014 Civic Election coverage
We’ve crunched the numbers from 55 of B.C.’s largest municipalities. Here are five facts about this year’s election, explained by charts.
1. Turnout across British Columbia was generally up
Below is an interactive chart compares turnout from this election to 2011. In 41 of the 55 cities we tracked, turnout was up – with the largest increases coming in Chilliwack (70%), Nelson (53%) and Summerland (41%). The largest decreases came in Whistler (down 45%), Fort St. John (18%) and Abbotsford (16%).
Fort St. John had the worst turnout in B.C. at 15.17%.
Overall, preliminary turnout was estimated at 33.3%.
2. Incumbents did well in Metro Vancouver, but poorly elsewhere
It was only good to be an incumbent mayor if you were in Metro Vancouver. There, 15 of the 19 mayors running for re-election were successful in their bids.
READ MORE: Several mayors defeated across British Columbia
But outside the region? They struggled. Of the 41 races we researched outside Metro Vancouver, mayors were running for re-election in 32 of them, but just 17 won. There were high profile losses to incumbents in Victoria, Saanich and Nanaimo, among others.
3. Amalgamation is on the table in Victoria
There were no major referendums in British Columbia this election cycle, but there was a non-binding plebiscite in many Greater Victoria communities.
People in eight of Greater Victoria’s 13 municipalities (including the five largest) were asked various questions about reducing the number of local governments.
In seven of eight, people voted in favour. Oak Bay rejected the measure, although their question – “Are you in favour of the District of Oak Bay being amalgamated into a larger regional municipality?” – was considered presumptive, as no details have been decided yet.
The results open the door for a binding referendum among all Greater Victoria residents in 2018. Whether that happens, and the wording of the specific question, will be decided by regional politicians in the coming years.
4. Almost two men were elected for every women
According to CivicInfoBC, just 27.5% of the 160 mayors elected were women. The number is higher for elected councillors at 38.9%, but it means that province wide, 37.1% of people on municipal councils are women.
5. In Vancouver, neighbourhoods seemed to support the same party as in 2011
Okay, this isn’t really a chart, but we’ll include this map of every polling station in Vancouver (you can click on each pin to see the results for mayor at each station).
Red pins supported Kirk LaPointe, while green pins supported Gregor Robertson, who was re-elected to a third term. For the first time, people in Vancouver could vote anywhere they wanted, so it’s hard to definitively state how neighbourhoods voted as a whole – but this is what it looked like in 2011.
More people supported the NPA in West Point Grey, but otherwise it appears the same places that supported Gregor Robertson in 2011 supported him again in 2014.
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