The ballot for next month’s civic election in Delta continues to grow.
As of Wednesday afternoon, with two days still to go until the nomination deadline, additional names had been added to the races for mayor, council and school trustee.
In fact, the race to replace retiring Mayor Lois Jackson has doubled in size as six candidates are declared now that independents Moneca Kolvyn, Alex Megalos and Vytas Vaitkus have joined Sylvia Bishop, Jim Cessford and George Harvie.
That’s a far cry from the last civic election four years ago when Jackson was acclaimed after nobody stepped forward to run against her.
The race for six council seats has grown to 19 candidates after Chen Du filed and Craig Decraene filed nomination papers. They join of three other independents, while 14 other council candidates are affiliated with three slates.
The 2014 election saw just 13 candidates seek council seats.
The race for seven school trustee positions has grown to 15 candidates after newcomer Melody Pan filed nomination papers at city hall.
More candidates are expected to file before Friday afternoon’s deadline.
With so many already in the race and interest in this election looking like it could be higher than usual, voter turnout, which was just under 32 per cent in 2014, could also be higher.
The civic election will be held Oct. 20.
