Vancouver voters are turning out in force before election day. Close to 22,000 ballots were cast on Saturday, the first day of advance voting for the city's 2026 municipal elections — nearly a 200 percent increase over first-day turnout in 2022, and a new record.
Vote-by-mail requests also climbed to a record, signalling unusually high engagement across the local race.
On Oct. 17, B.C. voters will elect councils, mayors and school trustees — contests that typically draw lighter interest than federal or provincial races. The surge in early participation suggests the 2026 cycle could break that pattern.
Elections officials and local analysts will be watching whether the advance-voting wave carries through to election day, or whether it simply means more voters choosing the convenience of casting their ballot early.
