B.C. civic turnout jumps in Vancouver, Surrey and Burnaby

Voter turnout rose in several of British Columbia’s largest cities in Saturday’s municipal elections, with Vancouver at 43 per cent and Surrey at 37.4 per cent in preliminary figures, CBC and Daily Hive reported.

CBC reported that Vancouver’s 43 per cent turnout compared with 36.3 per cent in 2022 and tied 2014 for the city’s highest since 2002. Richmond was at 40.6 per cent, up from 24.5 per cent, although CBC’s figure was based on population rather than eligible voters. Delta reached 43.2 per cent, up from 29.9 per cent in 2022, and Saanich 42.7 per cent, up from 31.2 per cent.

In Burnaby, turnout reached 29.92 per cent, compared with 19.7 per cent in 2022, and CBC said the city set a record for total voters. The broadcaster said turnout also rose in Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, Coquitlam, Prince George, Kelowna, Kamloops, Victoria and Nanaimo, without giving figures for those cities.

Daily Hive reported that Surrey’s preliminary count showed 134,437 ballots cast among 359,921 eligible voters. That compared with 118,908 ballots and 34.5 per cent turnout in 2022, according to the city’s official results. Advance ballots made up about 39 per cent of this year’s total, or 52,600.

Daily Hive described Surrey’s turnout as the highest since 1990, but its own historical table lists 1990 at 38 per cent, above this year’s preliminary 37.4 per cent.

Stewart Prest, a University of British Columbia political science lecturer, told CBC that high turnout is often a sign of dissatisfaction with those in power. He said voters "are paying attention and showing up," and suggested high municipal turnout could point to strong participation in the provincial election next week.

Andy Yan, director of Simon Fraser University’s city program, credited part of Vancouver’s turnout to what he called a "youth-quake." "Young people showed up," he said.

The figures are preliminary until each municipality’s chief election officer declares official results. The turnout rise came as voters ousted incumbent mayors across the province, as we reported in our report on incumbent mayors falling. Pete Fry’s win over Ken Sim is detailed in our Vancouver story, while the Surrey race is covered in our Surrey report and the Burnaby result in our Burnaby and Coquitlam story.

Via CBC and Daily Hive.

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