British Columbia

Vancouver sets byelection record for advance, mail-in voting

The city says in two days of advance voting for the April 5 byelection, 7,600 votes were cast while 6,400 mail-in ballots had been requested.

Nearly 7,700 advance votes cast, 6,400 mail-in ballots requested for 2-seat race, city says

Voters are pictured outside of City Hall as they wait in a line-up to cast their ballot during advanced voting in the city’s by-election in Vancouver, B.C, on Wednesday, March 26, 2025.
Voters are pictured outside of city hall as they wait in a line-up to cast their ballot during advanced voting in the city’s byelection in Vancouver, B.C, on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Ben Nelms/CBC News)

The City of Vancouver says in two days of advance voting for the April 5 byelection, 7,671 votes were cast while 6,400 mail-in ballots had been requested.

"Advance voting opportunities in the Vancouver byelection have shattered previous records so far," said a statement from Natti Schmid, the city's elections communications and outreach manager.

Vancouver announced details of the byelection in late January after Coun. Adriane Carr (Green Party of Vancouver) resigned. Coun. Christine Boyle (OneCity) vacated her seat in the fall after being elected to the provincial legislature.

The byelection comes about 2.5 years into the current council's four-year mandate and is seen as a measure of resident satisfaction with the ruling ABC Vancouver party's direction over public safety, fiscal responsibility and development and density.

The city held advance voting at a single location — city hall — on March 26 and April 1.

On the first day of advance voting, voters cast 2,876 ballots, and on the second day, voters cast 4,795 ballots, the city said.

It said both days "significantly" surpassed the previous record of approximately 2,500 ballots cast at a single voting location in any election.

"After the first two days of advance voting, Vancouver voters have cast 7,671 ballots total, an 84 per cent increase over the two advance voting days in 2017," said the statement from Schmid.

WATCH | City hall watcher explains the importance of Vancouver's byelection:

April 1 last day of advance polling in Vancouver byelection

2 days ago
Duration 6:42
Tuesday, April 1 is the last day of advance polling in Vancouver's byelection to fill two seats on city council. The seats were left vacant after OneCity's Christine Boyle moved to provincial politics and the Greens' Adriane Carr resigned. CBC’s Caroline Chan spoke with Randy Helten, president and co-founder of CityHallWatch Media. He says affordability and development in the city is motivating voters to come out early.

Mail-in ballots

The city said it has also had a significant response for mail-in ballots, which it expanded to all eligible voters for this byelection.

The deadline to receive a mail-in ballot has passed, but since March 18, 6,400 were requested compared to 647 in 2017, when vote by mail was limited to individuals meeting specific criteria.

Advance voting turnout represents approximately 1.67 per cent of the electorate, and vote-by-mail requests account for approximately 1.4 per cent of the electorate, said the city.

The vote-by-mail figure reflects requests only, and does not represent the number of ballots returned or counted.

For comparison, during the 2022 general election, 7,235 vote-by-mail packages were returned, representing 1.5 per cent of the vote, said city staff in January.

A lineup of people standing in twos outside a grey stone building with trees in the background.
Voters in Vancouver line up outside of city hall on Tuesday, April 1, to participate in advance voting for a two-seat byelection. General voting day is April 5 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 25 locations across the city. (Courtney Dickson/CBC News)

On April 5, general voting day, there will be 25 voting locations across the city open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for eligible voters to cast ballots.

Candidates contesting the race have said they are hoping for a greater turnout than in 2017, when only about 11 per cent of voters elected the NPA's Hector Bremner. He amassed 13,372 votes.

City staff said, historically, byelections in Vancouver have seen low voter turnout, but voting so far in 2025 has exceeded expectations.

"The strong participation in this byelection so far is a powerful testament to Vancouverites' commitment to shaping our community's future," said Schmid.

In the City of Vancouver's 138-year history, only 17 byelections have been held, according to the city website.

There are 13 candidates in the two-seat race and they have been randomly selected to appear on the ballot as follows:

Information on eligibility, and how and where to vote can be found on the city byelection web portal here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chad Pawson is a CBC News reporter in Vancouver. Please contact him at chad.pawson@cbc.ca.