Vancouver voters choose their next Mayor, City Councillors, Park Board Representatives and School Trustees on Saturday, October 15.

That will prove problematic for many Jewish voters as Election Day conflicts with Shabbat. Current electoral law has every municipality in British Columbia hold its civic elections on a Saturday. 

We are urging British Columbia to reconsider the date of municipal elections for the 2025 cycle. However, in the interim B’nai Brith has written to every major city in the province to ensure that Jewish voters will have convenient alternative dates to cast their ballots.

Please note the following Advance Voting days: October 1, 5, 8, 11 and 13.

Voters can cast their ballot at any Vancouver Advance Voting place between 8 am and 8 pm. Two of these days do not conflict with High Holidays or Shabbat.

Jewish voters may wish to consider the vote by mail option. 

All eligible voters may request to vote by mail. This option opens September 6.  At the time of writing, The Chief Electoral Officer has not yet indicated how to apply to vote by mail. This information will be posted by B’nai Brith as soon as it Is made public by the electoral authorities.

To be eligible to vote, you must meet all the qualifications to vote:

• Be 18 years of age or older on election day
• Be a Canadian citizen
• Have lived in BC for at least 6 months immediately before registering to vote
• Live in Vancouver (no minimum days required), or own property registered in your name in Vancouver for at least 30 days immediately before registering to vote
• Not be disqualified by law from voting

If you voted in the last British Columbia provincial election (October 2020) and are a Vancouver resident, you are automatically on Vancouver’s voters list and will not need to register again.

You can verify if you are on the voters’ list through the following link:

https://vancouver.ca/election/2022/am-i-registered-to-vote.aspx

Vancouver City Council is comprised of the Mayor and 10 Councillors who are elected at large for a four-year term. 

The Mayor is the Chair of City Council. While the at large system is used in British Columbia, elsewhere in Canada, City Councillors and School Trustees represent a ward or district. Thus in Vancouver, all elected Council members are your representative while none specifically represents your actual neighbourhood.

The Park Board is unique to Vancouver. Such representatives do not exist elsewhere in Canada and their function is generally assumed by City Councillors.

Voters will receive separate ballots for each position when voting. 

One ballot will list all candidates for Mayor. Voters choose one name from among those shown on this ballot. The candidate receiving a plurality of the vote is elected Mayor.

The next ballot lists all candidates for City Council. This list may be extensive. In 2018 the ballot showed the names of the 71 Council candidates. Voters may choose 10 or fewer candidates. Ballots which mark more than 10 City Council candidates will be considered spoiled ballots.

The Park Board Ballot lists the names of all candidates for that office. Voters choose up to 7 candidates. Ballots indicating more than 7 candidates are considered spoiled.

Voters will be asked to choose up to 9 candidates from the list of those seeking School Board office. Ballots marking more than 9 candidates will be considered spoiled. 

Voters can if they desire choose fewer than the maximum number of candidates for each position. Such ballots will be valid.

Candidates in Vancouver are not listed alphabetically as elsewhere in Canada. Each candidate’s position on the ballot is determined by a random draw so please read the ballot carefully.

Questions about eligibility, dates and times can be sent to Vancouver 311 at the following address:

https://van311.ca/services/election-question

The Chief Electoral Officer is Rosemary Higawara . Her office can be reached at [email protected]