With municipal election turnout falling in B.C.’s capital, Victoria is looking at bringing in a larger centralized venue for the 2026 vote.
The city is considering reserving the Victoria Conference Centre, or a similar facility, for the 2026 election for advanced and day-of voting. City officials call it an ideal location for future voting opportunities as it offers large rooms and alternative spaces like Crystal Gardens.
“Large venues like the Victoria Conference Centre can service more voters at a time because they have the space for additional registration tables and privacy screens,” city staff said.
The city saw 38 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballot last year, down from 43 per cent in 2018. Most poll locations were busy and feedback showed the public’s main concern was the length of time spent in line, according to a report on lessons learned from the election.
It was common for people to wait up to an hour in line at several polling stations, especially ones in the more densely populated parts of the city.
The city ran 13 day-of and five advanced voting locations. It also offered mail voting and special opportunities for those in care facilities to cast their ballot.
More people are turning to mail to get their vote in as 2,685 of those ballots were cast – a stark increase from just 197 in 2018. City Hall’s advanced vote station was the most popular ballot-casting spot last year.
Some residents complained to the city about advanced voting stations at the University of Victoria and Our Place Society. Staff said there were no issues at either location. Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto noted previous councils looked to add voting at those locations in part to boost voting access to eligible students and members of vulnerable populations.
Coun. Dave Thompson would like to see the province bring in other changes to municipal elections, such as giving municipal election canvassers the same access to multifamily buildings that provincial and federal election canvassers get.
A motion from Thompson going to council on Oct. 11 said the change is needed as city data shows 60 per cent of Victoria residents are renters and 80 per cent of residents live in multifamily homes.
He also wants to eliminate or restrict the number and location of election signs as the councillor said they’re wasteful, attract vandalism and theft and give an advantage to candidates with larger campaign budgets.
The province should also look at ways to boost turnout among young adults and renters as they’re underrepresented in municipal votes, Coun. Thompson’s motion said.
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