The City of Delta’s municipal election could see a higher-than-usual voter turnout, according to an analysis of results from an on-line survey conducted by Team Delta.
“I truly am very pleased to see such a high level of interest in this year’s municipal elections,” said Team Delta's Sylvia Bishop, a two-term councillor now seeking election as mayor. “The initial results from our on-line questionnaire show that a stunning 67.4 per cent of respondents declared they were ‘certain to vote’ in this fall’s municipal election, with another 21.7 per cent saying they ‘intend to vote’. By comparison, only 6.0 per cent said they would ‘try to vote’, another 3.3 per cent ‘may or may not vote’, and a paltry 1.6 per cent of respondents flatly stated they ‘definitely’ would not be voting.”
Bishop said voter turn-out in Delta’s 2008 municipal elections was 31.0 per cent, in 2011 was 33.5 per cent, and in 2014, 31.8 per cent.
Kim Kendall, a newcomer to local-government politics who currently is seeking election to council under the Team Delta banner, said she was hopeful of a sizeable voter turnout in October.
“Over the summer months my Team Delta colleagues and I have been doing a lot of door-to-door canvassing,” said Kendall. “My sense is that voters are enthusiastic and motivated to participate in the election.”
The Team Delta on-line survey was active on Facebook from the evening of Aug. 14 through the afternoon of Aug. 27, and solicited the views of 192 respondents.
The respondents self-selected their participation in the survey, meaning that the poll was not truly random. A random survey of 192 Delta voters would have a margin of error of plus-or-minus seven (7.0) per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Bishop added that Team Delta last week mailed out another questionnaire to selected Delta voters, and already had received dozens of responses – both from people returning their completed surveys in person or sending them back by Canada Post.
“An election campaign truly is a great time to find out what Delta residents think about the many issues affecting our community,” she said. “My Team Delta colleagues and I are very thankful and appreciative that so many people have taken a portion of their day to tell us their thoughts and concerns.”
The other members of Team Delta are veteran councillor Robert Campbell, along with newcomers Dr. Joan Hansen, and Simran Walia.
