Skip to content

Delta advance polls draw big numbers

If the advance voting numbers are any indication, voter turnout for this year’s municipal election could be a pretty big one. According to the clerk’s department at city hall, advance voting which occurred Oct.
2018 municipal election delta

If the advance voting numbers are any indication, voter turnout for this year’s municipal election could be a pretty big one.

According to the clerk’s department at city hall, advance voting which occurred Oct. 6, 10 and 11 drew a much larger than usual turnout.  

 

 

Overall, for the three days, 5,175 cast a ballot at the advanced polls, compared to 2,246 in the last election of 2014.

South Delta had over 2,800 advanced ballots, which includes a few school trustee votes at the Tsawwassen First Nation where residents aren’t able to vote for Delta mayor and council, while North Delta had over 2,300 ballots cast

The 2014 election finished with a 31.8 per cent voter turnout. That race saw the mayor acclaimed, while 13 ran for a council seat and 16 for school board. This year’s election has six running for mayor and 20 for council, which has some empty seats up for grabs even if the incumbents who are running are re-elected.

This year’s race has 17 vying for school board.

The 2018 race for council and mayor has also been a particularly heated affair at times.

The biggest voter turnout in recent memory came in 1990 when a whopping 55 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots, coming on the heels of the highly contentious Tsawwassen Development Lands application and record-breaking public hearing.

Election day will be held Saturday, Oct. 20.