Voters in Vancouver are casting their ballots in an election Saturday — but not for the federal election that’s still weeks away.
Vancouverites instead are voting in a municipal byelection to select two new councillors to fill seats vacated by the Green Party’s Adriane Carr and OneCity’s Christine Boyle.
People heading to the polls were met with long lineups, prompting the city’s elections office to release a statement asking for voters to have patience while waiting to cast their ballot.
The statement said expected turnout was modelled off data from the past two byelections, and “so far, this byelection has had significantly higher voter turnout comparatively.”
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The city said it has also sent 45 additional staff members as well as additional tabulators to the busiest locations in hopes of increasing the speed of processing voters.
A priority access line has also been set up for “voters with diverse access needs,” such as older adults, people with physical challenges or young children.
Curbside voting is also available for people who are unable to enter the polling station.
The vote is anticipated to be a litmus test for Mayor Ken Sim’s ABC party, which swept to power in 2022 with all its candidates for council, park board and school board elected.
The departure of Carr and Boyle — who left after being elected to B.C.’s provincial legislature — leaves only the Green Party’s Pete Fry and former ABC member Rebecca Bligh serving who aren’t ABC councillors in Vancouver.
ABC is running two candidates including former Vancouver police veteran Ralph Kaisers, while former councillor Colleen Hardwick is also running under her TEAM banner where she ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2022.
The city’s three left-of-centre parties — COPE, OneCity and the Greens — are running one candidate each, with COPE represented by Sean Orr, the Greens by Annette Reilly and One City by Lucy Maloney.
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