Fifteen candidates in the City of Vancouver’s municipal election will be allowed to have their names printed on ballots in non-Latin characters, following a ruling in B.C. Provincial Court.
The city’s chief election officer had challenged the names submitted by candidates including the Non-Partisan Association’s mayoral candidate Fred Harding, incumbent NPA council candidate Melissa De Genova, OneCity Vancouver’s Iona Bonamis and longtime Vision Vancouver school board trustee Allan Wong.
The candidates had sought to have their names printed in the Latin alphabet as well as Chinese or Persian characters.
A judge ruled Friday it would be unfair to fully hear a challenge of the names under the strict timelines set out in the Vancouver Charter, meaning they will appear on ballots as they were submitted. A full challenge and decision on the name issue will be heard at a later date, likely after the election.
According to the city, candidates are permitted under the Vancouver Charter to use their legal name or their “usual name” on election ballots. However, it says the chief election officer is permitted to challenge those names “if it appears that the usual name submitted in the nomination documents is not the usual name of the person.”
Respondents to the city’s application included 10 candidates from the NPA, two from Vision Vancouver, and one each from OneCity Vancouver, Forward Together and COPE.
“We’re all really proud we happen to be living in such a multicultural city where multicultural names will be on the ballot,” the NPA’s Harding said in a video posted to Twitter.
“This is a victory for everybody. For the NPA, for those candidates that want to put their names on in a different language, but most importantly for all the people in Vancouver.”
Also by Twitter, OneCity’s Bonamis called the court challenge “an incredibly frustrating experience.”
“Vancouver is a multicultural city in a multicultural country. People known by a certain name in a given community should be allowed to run for office on that name,” she said.
“That’s the only way we’ll ever be a democracy for all of our citizens – whatever language they speak.”
The order that candidates’ names will appear on the ballot is being decided by random draw on Friday evening.
-With files from the Canadian Press