Advance Polls open this Wednesday and next
An elderly woman walks up the ramp at Beban Park’s Social Centre, at 2300 Bowen Road. (Photo by Jesse Woodward / CHLY 101.7FM)
Attendees will check in with staff who will confirm voter eligibility. Then they’ll head to a voting booth surrounded by privacy screens to mark their ballot. (Photo by Jesse Woodward / CHLY 101.7FM)
Advance polls are open this Wednesday October 7 at Beban Park in Nanaimo.
With local elections happening across BC, Saturday October 17th, the City of Nanaimo has set up advance polls giving eligible voters the opportunity to lock in their votes early.
A second day of advance voting will be offered Wednesday October 14th.
According to the City of Nanaimo, advance voting is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Both advance polls will be held at Beban Park’s Social Centre, at 2300 Bowen Road.
Sheila Gurrie, director of legislative services and chief election officer for the City of Nanaimo, said the city is going beyond the minimum by offering two advance voting days.
“We are legislated to have one, so a certain population, the Local Government Act states that you have to have at least one, advanced voting day, in our election bylaw, and because of our size and abilities, we have the two advanced days.”
Gurrie explained advance voting will work similar to previous elections. Attendees will check in with staff who will confirm voter eligibility. Then they’ll head to a voting booth surrounded by privacy screens to mark their ballot.
Gurrie went into detail on who is eligible to vote on advance voting days and how it works.
“Anyone that is on the provincial voters list already, or is eligible to be registered and on the provincial voters list, can come out and vote. So if you are already on the voters list, and you know this for sure, and/or you signed up by August 18th, you should be on our voters list. If you're unsure, you should bring two pieces of ID, and you should be 18 years of age or older on General Voting Day,” said Gurrie. “So if you are going to be 18 on October the 17th, you are eligible to vote. You have to be a Canadian citizen. You have to have resided in BC for the last six months and be a resident of Nanaimo. So and/or you can own property in Nanaimo and be a non-resident property elector, but there's a process for that.”
She added voters will have the opportunity to choose up to eight candidates for council, one for mayor, and up to nine school trustees in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District (SD-68). Unlike General Voting Day, Beban Park Social Centre is the only location for advance voting in Nanaimo.
Sheila Gurrie encouraged citizens to participate in the upcoming municipal elections.
“To really encourage everyone and those you know to get out and vote. It's really important, and I hope to see everyone at the polls.”
Advance voting days will take place October 7th and 14th. General Voting Day is October 17th.
The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) will also host advance polls for the respective electoral areas. Additional information is available on the official RDN advance voting webpage.
Further and future local election coverage can be found at www.chly.ca/news. Additional information is available in the City of Nanaimo’s Election webpage.
Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.
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