New Westminster city council candidate Daniel Fontaine believes three factors have British Columbia heading to a record low voter turnout for the province-wide Oct. 20 municipal elections.
He’s worried about an earlier election day, stricter rules on campaign donations, and the proportional representation referendum.
Fontaine, a city council candidate with the New West Progressives and long-time municipal affairs watcher, doesn’t think enough is being done to inform voters about the upcoming election.
“There are now less than 50 days left until Election Day, and we are simply not doing enough to increase awareness of the pending election,” Fontaine said. “I have been knocking on doors all summer, and I am struck by the number of citizens who have no idea it is an election year.”
In the past, B.C.’s municipal elections have been held in November. This year, voters go to the polls at the end of October.
Municipal candidates are also restricted from raising money from unions and corporations, a change made as part of the provincial government’s move to ban the donations at the provincial level as well.
The municipal elections also happen to share a campaign period with a provincial referendum on electoral reform. Fontaine says he has already run into many people while campaigning who are confused about the two separate campaigns. The council candidate is suggesting that the Union of BC Municipalities and the Metro Vancouver board step in to support information campaigns both regionally and across the province.
“It is a lot more challenging to run. It is not as easy as it was perhaps in the past,” Fontaine said. “If you were to check on the Metro Vancouver website, you wouldn’t even know that there was an election next month.”
Voter turnout in the city of Vancouver rose to 43.4 per cent in 2014 from 35 per cent in 2011.
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