Democratic Innovation Vancouver Elections
Motion 13 · Standing Committee of Council on City Finance and Services, February 4, 2026
Summary
- Motion proposed two measures: directing staff to explore a vote bus (modelled on Calgary) and fare-free transit on election day, and directing staff to report on implementing ranked-choice ballots for the 2030 mayoral election.
- Proponents argued Vancouver's voter turnout has fallen from 44% in 2014 to 36% in 2022, far short of the Healthy City Strategy's 60% target, and that practical barriers like transit cost and access disproportionately affect seniors, people with disabilities, and lower-income residents.
- Multiple public speakers from Fair Vote Canada and democratic reform groups supported ranked ballots for mayor, citing examples from New York City, London Ontario, Scotland, and Australia.
- Opponents noted polling stations are already within walking distance of most homes when schools are used, that special voting opportunities and homebound voting programs are already in place, and that evidence for free transit increasing turnout is weak.
- Staff confirmed existing pre- and post-season coordination with Coast Mountain Bus Company and that special voting programs from 2022 are being continued and potentially expanded for 2026.
Vote
Public comments
Read all 11 statements
Transcript
41 segments
Thank you, Chair.
This motion addresses declining voter turnout and barriers to participation in Vancouver's municipal elections. Council has set a goal of reaching 60% voter turnout, and this motion proposes practical steps to move forward towards that target. The motion focuses on improving access to voting by reducing transportation barriers. It directs staff to work with TransLink to explore a mobile vote bus modeled on Calgary's program and to examine fare-free transit on voting days for the 2026 election. The motion also directs staff to prepare a report on implementing a ranked-choice ballot for the 2030 mayoral election. Responding to concerns that first passed the post-elections can result in winners without majority support. Together, these measures aim to increase participation and strengthen confidence in Vancouver's democratic process.
Thank you. Do we have a seconder? Seconded by Councillor Frey. We will now hear from the registered speaker for this motion. Public speakers should stay whether they are in support or in opposition of the recommendations and may only speak once. I will also ask speakers if they are residents of Vancouver if it is not noted on the speakers list.
Public speakers speaking in person can use the new podium. On the left of the gallery, please adjust the podium to a comfortable height for speaking into the microphone using the control on the bottom right-hand corner. Our first speaker is Nathan Davidovich. Nathan?
Thank you, Chair and members of Council. My name is Nathan Davidovich. Today is a special day, transit equity day. Maybe the mayor can issue a proclamation. I support the motion of Councillor Sean Orr.
I've been involved since the 1970s in helping to improve the election process in Vancouver. I helped with the ward petition back in the 70s. In greater Victoria, free transit on elections days, municipal, provincial, and federal, has been around for many years. It is similar in many other transit systems in BC. Just everything changed when TransLink took over from BC Transit in 1999, and more changes made in 2008 when we don't have any counselors on TransLink board of directors anymore when we used to have three. So, I mean, the easiest way is for the BC government to mandate free transit on elections days at all transit system in BC. They fund all these systems and it's very easy for them to make that. But, you know, the days, I mean, maybe they will, because the days of municipalities doing their own procedures and bylaw is near the end. And finally, the B.C. government woke up, and you just have to look at the new housing bills that mandate what you have to do. And so, you know, will the B.C. government start mandating basic transit equities in B.C. ? We'll just have to wait and see, I presume, until when the budget is tabled on February 17th. I doubt it. TransLink and many operating companies do not charter buses anymore, but many organizations have buses that are available. For example, the Ask Friendship Society at 59th and Canby, they have two buses, and many parks board them. Community centers have some buses too. But I'm sure things can be worked out if we really want to do them. So thank you, Council, all for your motion. And thank you, Council, for hearing me. All right. Thanks, Nathan.
Speaker number two and number three have a strong. Speaker number four is Nate Stanley.
Hi there. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Please go ahead. Perfect.
Hello, respected mayor and councillors. I'm calling in today in favor of this motion. As councillors or previously stated, the healthy city strategy desires or targets that we reach 60% voter participation and turnout in our municipal elections. A target I think we will not comfortably hit this year, nor unfortunately in 2030. There's a lot of different reasons for that low engagement municipal elections. But some of this is due to real barriers around cost and accessing polling stations. The vote bus and free transit are really, really common sense ways to remove those barriers for our poorest Vancouverites, for those with accessibility challenges, to make sure they can go out and cast their votes in advance polling with the voting bus or on election day, getting around the city to their polling station and having their voice heard in our municipal elections. I really love those points of this motion and support those. The main point I'm calling in is in support of the ranked ballot, in particular for our mayoral race, using a first-past-the-post system for the mayor. It gets really messy when we have a ton of mayors in the race and we are asking our voters who are already kind of cognitively overloaded trying to figure out what slate of councillors they wish to vote for. voting for 10 out of a list of 70 to sometimes 100. And then they have to pick a particular mayoral candidate that they align with, but they think is the most electable on E-Day to vote for, so they hope they win. This is an unnecessary burden. There's a lot of research. I think Fair Vote Canada does a bunch of this that shows that when you're electing a singular role, ranked ballot is really the best choice to make sure everyone has their democratic voices heard. We should make sure that 2026 is the last election that we elect our mayor using first-past-the-post. I am in deep support. I very much support the idea of moving to a ranked ballot system for our mayoral elections. Thank you for your time, and I am in support of this motion.
Thank you. Speaker number five is Matthew He.
Okay, we're going to come back. Speaker number six is Greg Hachet.
Speaker number seven is Michael Pelzer. Okay.
Speaker number eight is Carmen Carol Canuto. Sorry if I pronounce your name wrong.
That's okay. Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, we can.
Please go ahead.
Great.
My name is Carmen Cartinuto. I'm a resident of Vancouver, and I am in favor of this motion. I think that, as was said previously, we need to increase our voter turnout, and I can think of no better way than to do that and to celebrate democracy itself than by putting our public services to use. to do that. So obviously the idea of the vote bus and free public transit, I think, would go a long way in that regard. And as for ranked choice voting, I think here in... At least over my lifetime, I have heard nothing but terrible things about First Past the Post. I've witnessed it my whole life. There have been many attempts to move past it, and I think it's finally time that we... move to a more democratic system like ranked choice voting. And I also want to finish this by saying, in terms of the vote, we really shouldn't let Calgary outshine us here. If Calgary can have a vote bus, Vancouver can have a vote bus. Thank you very much. Have a great day. I'm in favor of this motion.
Thank you. Speaker number nine, Stevie Wei.
Please go ahead. Hello, Council. My name is David Ray. I am a resident of Vancouver, and I'm here to speak in favor of this motion. I am a frequent public transit user. I rely on it to get to work, to explore the city, and I used it to come here to speak today. I remember being very young. My father worked out of town. My mother had to walk a four-year-old me while pushing my sister in a stroller to get groceries, go to the doctor, and pretty much anything that was required. Public transit works as a lifeline to many, keeping us connected to our communities when we have no other option. I, of course, walk and bike as well, but when I experience injury, the bus is what I rely on most. However, with the cost of transit incrementally rising, some debate the importance of taking it all, especially when it comes to civic duty. Not everyone has a compass card. Not everyone can put another couple bucks on their credit cards. Some may opt to stay in just because of this. Now, everyone I've spoken to has been in favor of free transit being offered each year for New Year's Eve because it gives people a reliable option to get home at the end of the night and also to keep drunk drivers off of the road. This is an excellent safety measurement, but why not extend this to one of the most important days for our municipal democracy? We should be giving access to anyone who wants to vote the ability to do so. to support a strong democracy and to enable those who are less financially stable or less mobile, but who want to take part in the future of the city, voting in favor of this motion shows not only humanity, but an intention to support the people of Vancouver through equity. By giving the option of free transit on voting day, October 17th, or even through advanced voting days as it is practiced with the vote bus initiative in Calgary, we draw more awareness to our municipal election and thus a larger population who can take part in this process. We need to pilot this this year to ensure its value for future municipal elections. Secondly, I am doubly in favor of implementing ranked choice voting. As thoroughly explained in the motion, other jurisdictions that have implemented this have seen an even higher voter turnout and greater satisfaction with its implementation. It is used by every major federal political party, and proportional representation is constantly brought up as a change that needs to happen federally and provincially. We need to take the leap municipally to be a role model for the rest of our province and our country. Taking those concrete steps to reach the 60% turnout goals set by the City Council in the Healthy City Strategy shouldn't be a bold thing to do. It should be an essential thing to do for a more connected democracy. Our elections are won through more informed voters who desire to participate in society, and it would not be disingenuous to say that voting against this motion when it comes to offering free transit on the day of the election would show your willingness to suppress voter turnout through ableist and classist priorities, and to be against implementing a ranked choice ballot would show efforts in selfish priorities and not benefit the voices of the people. I urge each of you to push this motion forward and to work with TransLink to show that we in Vancouver are willing to be a pinnacle example of the democratic process. Thank you.
Thank you. Speaker number 10 is Gillian McGuire.
In council chamber? No? No, I didn't see anyone. Speaker 11 is Adam Hawk. Adam?
Good afternoon, Chair and Council. My name is Adam Hawk. I am a long-term resident of the city of Vancouver. I'm speaking in support of this motion to advance democratic innovation in Vancouver's municipal elections. Municipal democracy only works when people can participate. Right now, too many residents face practical and structural barriers to voting, and the result is the declining turnout and weakened democratic legitimacy. In 2022, only 36% of eligible voters voted. Even the record-setting 2025 by-elections saw just 15% turnout. That should concern all of us. City Council has set a clear goal of 60% municipal voter turnout. This motion is about taking practical steps to help reach that goal. The first is access. For some residents, the barrier to voting is simply getting to the polls. Cities across North America have shown that fare-free transit on election days... and mobile polling stations work. Calgary's vote bus is a proven example of meeting people where they're at. This motion sensibly asks staff to explore options, costs, and impacts, not to rush decisions. The second is legitimacy. Vancouver elects its mayor using first past the post. Even in a crowded race where winners can lack majority support, the mayor can be chosen. This weekend's public confidence and limits voter choice. Ranked choice voting offers a credible alternative. Most political parties already use ranked choice voting internally to select their leaders and candidates, including at the federal level. Voters are more familiar with the system than we assume. There's also strong evidence that voters... who use ranked choice voting report higher satisfaction. Exit polls from cities like New York and San Francisco show most voters find it easy to use, feel it better reflects their preferences, and they want to keep it once they've tried it. Another proven way to improve turnout is lowering the voting age to 16. allowing young people to vote while still in school. Studies from Scotland show that people who vote earlier are more likely to continue voting later, helping build lifelong civic participation. If we are serious about strengthening democracy, reversing declining voter turnout, and ensuring election results reflect the will of the majority, we should support this motion. Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker number 12 is Holly Broadland.
Hello, can you hear me? Yes, we can. Please go ahead.
My name is Holly Broadland and I am a resident of Vancouver, a voter and a member of Women Transforming City. I would like to speak in support of this motion. I support all aspects of the motion and would like to specifically speak in support of adopting a ranked choice ballot for our mayoral election. Our city has set an ambitious goal to significantly increase voter turnout and updating our voting system is one practical way to help achieve this. Ranked choice voting is a straightforward improvement to our existing process. It gives every voter the freedom to express a full range of preferences, reduces concerns about vote splitting, and ensures that the winning candidate receives majority support rather than a small plurality. It also encourages more civil campaigns, which I'm sure lots of you would appreciate, as candidates benefit from appealing to a wider share of voters. In addition, we would be leaders. Adopting our RCV would demonstrate Vancouver's municipal leadership, at a time when cities across the country are exploring ways to strengthen democratic participation. This is a reform cities can choose for themselves without waiting for higher levels of government to act. This is a transparent, empirically grounded, and responsive to the needs of residents improvement that councils could show that our city is prepared to lead on democratic innovation rather than follow. I would be proud if my city were a leader in increasing democratic participation. London, Ontario became the first modern city in modern Canadian history to rank choice voting in 2018, and an independent report from Western University found that the process went smoothly. It was supported by systematic testing of the voting equipment and a strong public education campaign. London voters adapted well, with 70% choosing to rank more than one candidate. While turnout was approximately 39%, down slightly from 43% in 2014, Political scientists attributed the change to election cycle factors like voter fatigue and the dynamics of a four-candidate race, not the ranked ballot itself. Importantly, their turnout remained higher than many Ontario municipalities, which often fall between 30 and 35%.
Given our city's commitment to increasing participation and strengthening democratic engagement, ranked choice voting offers a practical, proven path forward. It will not only help voters express themselves most fully, but would signal that our city is prepared to lead in building a more representative and engaged local democracy. And on a personal note, I would be proud to have my teenagers. One is of voting age and first voted in the by-election last spring. The other will be voting in a few short years. I would be proud to have them be some of the first youth in Canada to vote for their mayor using RCV. Thank you for your time and leadership.
Thank you. Speaker number 13 is Ryan Campbell.
Hello? Please go ahead, Ryan. We can't hear you.
Hi. So my name is Ryan Campbell. I'm here on behalf of Fair Vote Canada, and I am no longer a resident of the city of Vancouver. I'm here to speak in favour of the motion as a whole, but I'm going to limit my remarks to the ranked ballot section. I support and our organization supports ranked ballots for mayor, specifically when there's only one position to elect. It is an improvement. First past the post leads to kind of weird results where we have mayors in this province, including previously Vancouver, elected with 30% of the vote or less. That can lead to conflicts with council. It doesn't reflect how people voted. You can imagine, you know, 70% of people voted for someone else. Council reflects that. The two fight. No one gets along. Nothing gets done. It was in the news a couple days ago. I won't name the city, but you know who I'm talking about. Rank ballots are one possible way of addressing this. It's not the only way, but it's fairly common in former British colonies, I'd say. Keep in mind that the mayor is just one voice on council, though, and it would be a mistake not to address this issue for the other 10 positions on council. Council results can also be very unrepresentative, with council majorities in places like Surrey right now elected by just 25% of voters, and council not really reflecting the voter intention or demographics of the city. Proportional ranked ballots and a single transferable vote is a way to address this that is, again, common in former British colonies specifically. It's not the only way to address it, but it's not a bad way to address it either. I also want to mention that last time this came up, I think on a motion from Councillor Fry in the previous council, staff expressed some concerns about ranked ballots leading or reform in general leading to longer ballot papers and more candidates. I don't think there's a strong body of evidence that rank ballots for mayor or council would increase the number of candidates. But even if it doesn't increase it, it is a real problem that we have right now. So I would suggest that the city may want to request raising the signature requirements to 100. It's not a huge barrier, but for a serious candidate, 100 signatures isn't a huge barrier. But for an unserious candidate, it might deter them. So I think that's something to consider as well. I just want to focus into on the weirdness of our current system that, you know, your 10th vote is worth as much as your first vote. So you can have someone who gets 60% of the vote based on being the 10th choice of 60% of voters beat someone who's the first choice of 55% of voters. I don't think that's a tenable position. Even if this isn't amended to reflect council, though, I think it is useful for that purpose. The infrastructure that would be required would be investigated, whether it's for mayor or council. And I would kindly encourage you to look, particularly in Scotland and Australia and Ireland, where these are very common systems to use. Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you. Speaker number 14 is Derek D. O'Keefe.
Derek? Okay. Speaker number 15 is Tanya Webkin.
I'm here. Yes, please go ahead, Tanya.
Yeah, I'm here to speak in favor of advancing democratic innovations to increase voter turnout. With voter turnout on the constant decline in Vancouver since 2014, the city needs measures to stay on target for our own healthy city strategy, which included a target to increase municipal turnout by 60% by last year. While we may have missed that mark, we can make advancements towards the school with some innovative electoral changes for this upcoming 2026 election. We've been in a turnout decline since 2014 when we had 44% voter turnout. It fell further in 22 with 36.3%. Can you believe we had a 52% voter turnout in 1990? Two possible actionable solutions that we could implement this year are free transit on Election Day and creating a vote bus like the one in Calgary. We have to address that there's unequal impacts on voter participation. Those who depend on transit, the elderly, the disabled, and folks with young children are unequally impacted by barriers to voting. Piloting a Vancouver vote bus could increase voter participation by engaging disenfranchised voters. It's also important that voters from any area of the city can vote on any vote bus. This is an effort to remove barriers to voting, not to enshrine them. I would say that we should even expand the idea to a rolling polling bus to hit critically missed areas in polling and to get even more accurate polling information. There's currently 27 cities with free transit for elections, partnerships with BC Transit, anywhere from Cranbrook to Victoria to Hazleton to Smithers, all over the province. The other big idea in this motion is ranked choice voting for mayor. Ranked choice voting increases voter turnout, it increases democracy, and it increases public trust. In New York City, voter turnout went from 23% in 2021 to 40% in 2025. Once they held a referendum in 2019, it passed by 75% of the vote. The ranked choice voting also increases coalition building and broader candidate outreach, which benefits the voter. In 2025, the New York City voter turnout for mayor was the largest it's been since 1969, increasing by 84% since 2021, although certainly a socialist platform contributed to that increase. We should all have the collective goal of increasing voter turnout. We need to recognize some barriers to voter participation are costs, traffic congestion, and travel time. Having free transit on election day and piloting Vancouver's vote bus means that we can bring democracy to the people and to work towards ranked choice voting for 2030. Please support this motion. Thank you for listening.
Thank you. Speaker number 16 is Owen Torres.
Speaker number 17 is Akshay Balakrishnan.
Hello. Please go ahead. Hi. My name is Akshay Balakrishnan. I'm speaking in favor of this motion, and I'd like to speak specifically about the proposed changes to the election process. With our election happening later this year, it makes sense to plan for 2030's election, but I'd like this council to broaden the scope just a little bit. Last summer, I spoke to the BC Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform in favor of using a proportional representation voting system. The committee published a list of recommendations, and number 36 in that list reads, consult local governments to determine the level of interest in alternative electoral systems for municipal elections. So I think it's important for this motion to be aligned with the committee's recommendation, perhaps by explicitly mentioning working with the provincial government to research and implement a new electoral system. My second point is about broadening the motions language. Rank choice voting might not be the worst choice for electing Vancouver's mayor, but it's important to note, but I think it makes sense for us to set more broad parameters for the requested report. It's important to note that in New York City's most recent election, RCV was used in the Democratic Party's primary elections to nominate the mayoral candidate, but the general election still used first past the post. So instead of explicitly mentioning ranked choice ballot, please consider changing it to something like proportional representation, the broader term for the systems that we're talking about. I'd also like this motion to consider adjustments to the system used for electing all positions, the 2030 municipal election, instead of just focusing on mayor's seat. Council and folks watching, you may not know much about the various ways our votes can be tallied, but you should care. Any issue you care about ultimately comes down to who is on council pursuing it. Influencing proportional representation in Vancouver will get the right people elected and give them a stronger mandate. Council, this is an important issue, and Vancouver has the opportunity here to set a bold example and implement a more fair system to elect our future governments. you very much.
Thank you. Speaker number 18 is Richard Campbell.
Richard, are you there?
Hi, speaker number 18 is Richard. Are you there?
Okay, we're going to come back. We have only one speaker left.
Okay. Okay, we're going to come back. Speaker number 19 is Mona Stilwell. Mona? Oh? Okay. Hello? Oh, it's Mona? Hello? Yeah. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Please go ahead.
Okay. Hi. I'm a resident of Vancouver, and I support this motion. 20 years ago, I worked at EECOM 911 in the IT department, and when the command center bus came along, it was really exciting for everyone, and it made a lot of sense that you would want a command center to be where the need was, to be where the most emergency coordination could be provided. And so I support this motion to direct staff to write letters, translate, and prepare reports that would increase voter turnout and a clear support of democracy. You're bringing the bus to where the need is the most, where people aren't able to get out as easily. Also, this gives a strong signal that your party supports clear democracy, just like the vote bus in Calgary. It's such a meaningful way to show Vancouver residents that that we support a democracy that cares about residents. And by supporting this motion, you will demonstrate to the residents of Vancouver that you care. Oh, I feel like I've said this several times. Sorry, I'm also a little bit sick. Just a reminder that this motion directs staff to write letters to translate and prepare reports. This feels like a worthwhile effort to show your support of democracy. Now, in terms of the ranked voter item, I'm not an academic, but I have been a resident of Vancouver for 32 years. And the concept of ranked voting sounds amazing to me. And I can see it being a clear concept that I can share with family and friends and people at my kids' school. And I think it would increase voter turnout because it just feels more participatory to us regular voters. And that's it for me. Thank you for the opportunity to speak on this motion that I support. Thank you.
Thank you. All right, so I'm going to go back to the missed speaker. Speaker number five is Matthew Hay.
No. Speaker number six, Greg Hachet.
No. Speaker number 10 is Jillian McGuire.
No. Speaker number 14 is Derek D. O'Keefe.
No. Speaker number 16 is Owen Tawais.
No. Speaker number 18 is Richard Campbell. Possibly. Yes.
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, we can. Please go ahead.
Oh, great. Thank you, Mayor and Council, for the opportunity to address you this afternoon. I'm speaking in strong support of the motion, both the bus and the ranked choice ballot, echoing a lot of the advantages of the ranked choice ballot that other speakers have detailed. But specifically, you know, it would be great if we could find out a way to make this happen by this next election rather than having to wait to... 2030 i realize it's not too much time and it could be fairly complicated uh another option uh for this coming election would be for mayor if uh the uh if no candidate gets above above 50 which is a majority then the top two candidates would have a runoff election maybe two or three weeks later or something like that That's also common in many other democracies around the world to select leadership positions. So, again, strongly support for many reasons. Oh, and another reason, I think it could also, you know, stronger voter support for a mayor will give the mayor probably more clout and influence in dealing with other levels of government. if it's showing that there's a stronger mandate, then more people are voting for him. So I think that would benefit, though, the city overall, and hopefully that all candidates would support this as soon as possible. Thank you very much.
Thank you. All right, so this is the end of our speaker's list. Thanks, everyone, for speaking to the Standing Committee on City Finance and Services. Committee members, is there any discussion? So counsel them in other ways to hold over or? Okay, please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you, Chair. Through you to our Deputy City Manager or City Manager, I just want to ask a couple of clarifying questions just related to the motion. Particularly in previous elections, we've had special voting opportunities afforded through specific sites, care facilities, hospital campuses, social service centers, shelters, mental health and substance abuse facilities. And we also piloted a homebound voting program so that individuals could register in advance and then people would come to their home to help them vote. While we haven't had a report yet for the 2026 civic election, could staff comment on whether those programs would be going ahead and be expanded as?
Chair? Oh, yeah. Okay, so I'll turn. There we go. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I can't comment on that. There is an election steering committee. I'm just looking at their notes right here through to the Councillor. I'll have a fulsome report back, but I know all of those things are under consideration, as well as enhancement of advanced voting opportunities and a variety of voting opportunities for the public. So there is a real effort being undertaken by the committee and those running the election to ensure enhancements for all sorts of different voting activities.
Okay, thank you. So what I'm hearing, there is fair to say that initiatives that we had in 2022 would likely be continued and potentially enhanced or expanded. Again, I'm referencing the special voting opportunities as well as the mobile homebound voting program. So I appreciate that. Thank you, Chair. Those are my questions.
All right, thank you. Councillor Maloney?
Yeah, thank you. I appreciate all the speakers that came and made such informative presentations today and I also appreciate the movers of this motion. I think it is an important issue and I'll be voting in support of it. I think it is very overwhelming for people as well. It's not just physical accessibility barriers. Regarding the 2022 election, there were 138 people on the ballot, the most by far of any city in Canada. And I think it is very difficult. It seems overwhelming and incomprehensible to voters. And I really feel as though we do need to have a look at reforming our electoral system. to make it as accessible as possible just in concept, let alone in physical barriers and accessibility barriers to get people along to exercise their democratic rights. Thanks.
Thank you. Councillor Domenalo.
Thanks, Chair. Just a couple of brief comments with respect to the motion. I appreciate the spirit of which it's brought forward. I'm an active transit user, as many people know around here, and as many also know, TransLink and Transit have had a very challenging time over the last number of years in terms of sustaining the service that we have in the Lower Mainland. And that when we do have, in the case someone referenced the New Year's Eve, that we have free transit that night, and that is largely to address safety and make sure that people get home safe and aren't drinking and driving, and I think that's a valid point. But I would say, just briefly, as, you know, a cursory review of some of the research out there and evidence that making transit free on Election Day doesn't actually, there isn't evidence that it actually increases voter turnout. Secondly, our voting and polling stations will be greatly expanded from what was offered in the by-election because we'll be leveraging all of the elementary and secondary school sites or most many of them throughout the city. So that makes them usually within walking distance of people's homes and where they're living. And then as I noted, we have a history of having the special voting opportunities at the sites that I referenced earlier to address equity and make sure anyone who may have a barrier to voting has the opportunity to do so, as well as the homebound voting program. which people were able to sign up for and people would come in home and help someone vote if necessary. So just on that basis, I can't support the motion the way it's articulated, but I think that we've heard from staff that they will be looking at all different provisions to make sure that people have the ability to vote. So thank you.
Thanks. Okay, Councillor Frye.
Yeah, you know, I just want to reflect back to the conversations that we had around these chambers in the wake of the by-election that saw our two newest colleagues elected and that there were, you know, frustrations around access to polls and people felt that the system had sort of broken down. So in the spirit of that, I think that... Movements to improve access for voters should be welcomed by all of us. And I think that, you know, we're constantly learning. And I think the vote bus has been a proven kind of solution that has worked in other jurisdictions. And I think it's worth exploring for here. As to the ranked choice ballot for mayor, I think that's an incredibly interesting idea. And I reflected this to Councillor Orr, and I sort of lapsed on preparing any kind of amendment that could actually appropriately direct this as well as a UBCM motion, because I think it is the kind of conversation that could be more broadly addressed. for local governments across the province because, of course, the ability to achieve something like a ranked choice ballot ultimately would lie with the province to amend the Vancouver Charter and the Local Government Act Community Charter, as the case may be. That being said, I think this is a reasonable approach and probably even a better approach to have staff report back a year and a half from now, which is quite a ways away, about what that would look like, and I believe at that point staff would be able to prepare some compelling evidence and the opportunity for us to then take it to Union of BC Municipalities and request of the province to appropriately amend the Local Government Act or the local elections or the Vancouver Charter as the case may be necessary. So I support the spirit of this. I think it's a good approach, and I know that everyone around these council chambers is looking for ways to enhance a democratic participation. And I think these are some pretty reasonable asks to that extent.
Thanks. Thanks, Councillor. All right, seeing no one else on the queue, so please let's clerk take us to the voting screen. And, Councillor, please register your vote on the voting panel.
Okay, so the motion did not pass with Councillor Zhou, Kirby Yang, Bominato, Montague, Klaas, Meisner, and the mayors in opposition, and Councillor Bligh absent.
Statement Watch
Thank you, Chair and members of Council. My name is Nathan Davidovich. Today is a special day, transit equity day. Maybe the mayor can issue a proclamation. I support the motion of Councillor Sean Orr. I've been involved since the 1970s in helping to improve the election process in Vancouver. I helped with the ward petition back in the 70s. In greater Victoria, free transit on elections days, municipal, provincial, and federal, has been around for many years. It is similar in many other transit systems in BC. Just everything changed when TransLink took over from BC Transit in 1999, and more changes made in 2008 when we don't have any counselors on TransLink board of directors anymore when we used to have three. So, I mean, the easiest way is for the BC government to mandate free transit on elections days at all transit system in BC. They fund all these systems and it's very easy for them to make that. But, you know, the days, I mean, maybe they will, because the days of municipalities doing their own procedures and bylaw is near the end. And finally, the B.C. government woke up, and you just have to look at the new housing bills that mandate what you have to do. And so, you know, will the B.C. government start mandating basic transit equities in B.C. ? We'll just have to wait and see, I presume, until when the budget is tabled on February 17th. I doubt it. TransLink and many operating companies do not charter buses anymore, but many organizations have buses that are available. For example, the Ask Friendship Society at 59th and Canby, they have two buses, and many parks board them. Community centers have some buses too. But I'm sure things can be worked out if we really want to do them. So thank you, Council, all for your motion. And thank you, Council, for hearing me. All right. Thanks, Nathan.
Statement Watch
Hello, respected mayor and councillors. I'm calling in today in favor of this motion. As councillors or previously stated, the healthy city strategy desires or targets that we reach 60% voter participation and turnout in our municipal elections. A target I think we will not comfortably hit this year, nor unfortunately in 2030. There's a lot of different reasons for that low engagement municipal elections. But some of this is due to real barriers around cost and accessing polling stations. The vote bus and free transit are really, really common sense ways to remove those barriers for our poorest Vancouverites, for those with accessibility challenges, to make sure they can go out and cast their votes in advance polling with the voting bus or on election day, getting around the city to their polling station and having their voice heard in our municipal elections. I really love those points of this motion and support those. The main point I'm calling in is in support of the ranked ballot, in particular for our mayoral race, using a first-past-the-post system for the mayor. It gets really messy when we have a ton of mayors in the race and we are asking our voters who are already kind of cognitively overloaded trying to figure out what slate of councillors they wish to vote for. voting for 10 out of a list of 70 to sometimes 100. And then they have to pick a particular mayoral candidate that they align with, but they think is the most electable on E-Day to vote for, so they hope they win. This is an unnecessary burden. There's a lot of research. I think Fair Vote Canada does a bunch of this that shows that when you're electing a singular role, ranked ballot is really the best choice to make sure everyone has their democratic voices heard. We should make sure that 2026 is the last election that we elect our mayor using first-past-the-post. I am in deep support. I very much support the idea of moving to a ranked ballot system for our mayoral elections. Thank you for your time, and I am in support of this motion.
Statement Watch
That's okay. Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, we can.
Please go ahead.
Great.
My name is Carmen Cartinuto. I'm a resident of Vancouver, and I am in favor of this motion. I think that, as was said previously, we need to increase our voter turnout, and I can think of no better way than to do that and to celebrate democracy itself than by putting our public services to use. to do that. So obviously the idea of the vote bus and free public transit, I think, would go a long way in that regard. And as for ranked choice voting, I think here in... At least over my lifetime, I have heard nothing but terrible things about First Past the Post. I've witnessed it my whole life. There have been many attempts to move past it, and I think it's finally time that we... move to a more democratic system like ranked choice voting. And I also want to finish this by saying, in terms of the vote, we really shouldn't let Calgary outshine us here. If Calgary can have a vote bus, Vancouver can have a vote bus. Thank you very much. Have a great day. I'm in favor of this motion.
Statement Watch
Please go ahead. Hello, Council. My name is David Ray. I am a resident of Vancouver, and I'm here to speak in favor of this motion. I am a frequent public transit user. I rely on it to get to work, to explore the city, and I used it to come here to speak today. I remember being very young. My father worked out of town. My mother had to walk a four-year-old me while pushing my sister in a stroller to get groceries, go to the doctor, and pretty much anything that was required. Public transit works as a lifeline to many, keeping us connected to our communities when we have no other option. I, of course, walk and bike as well, but when I experience injury, the bus is what I rely on most. However, with the cost of transit incrementally rising, some debate the importance of taking it all, especially when it comes to civic duty. Not everyone has a compass card. Not everyone can put another couple bucks on their credit cards. Some may opt to stay in just because of this. Now, everyone I've spoken to has been in favor of free transit being offered each year for New Year's Eve because it gives people a reliable option to get home at the end of the night and also to keep drunk drivers off of the road. This is an excellent safety measurement, but why not extend this to one of the most important days for our municipal democracy? We should be giving access to anyone who wants to vote the ability to do so. to support a strong democracy and to enable those who are less financially stable or less mobile, but who want to take part in the future of the city, voting in favor of this motion shows not only humanity, but an intention to support the people of Vancouver through equity. By giving the option of free transit on voting day, October 17th, or even through advanced voting days as it is practiced with the vote bus initiative in Calgary, we draw more awareness to our municipal election and thus a larger population who can take part in this process. We need to pilot this this year to ensure its value for future municipal elections. Secondly, I am doubly in favor of implementing ranked choice voting. As thoroughly explained in the motion, other jurisdictions that have implemented this have seen an even higher voter turnout and greater satisfaction with its implementation. It is used by every major federal political party, and proportional representation is constantly brought up as a change that needs to happen federally and provincially. We need to take the leap municipally to be a role model for the rest of our province and our country. Taking those concrete steps to reach the 60% turnout goals set by the City Council in the Healthy City Strategy shouldn't be a bold thing to do. It should be an essential thing to do for a more connected democracy. Our elections are won through more informed voters who desire to participate in society, and it would not be disingenuous to say that voting against this motion when it comes to offering free transit on the day of the election would show your willingness to suppress voter turnout through ableist and classist priorities, and to be against implementing a ranked choice ballot would show efforts in selfish priorities and not benefit the voices of the people. I urge each of you to push this motion forward and to work with TransLink to show that we in Vancouver are willing to be a pinnacle example of the democratic process. Thank you.
Statement Watch
Good afternoon, Chair and Council. My name is Adam Hawk. I am a long-term resident of the city of Vancouver. I'm speaking in support of this motion to advance democratic innovation in Vancouver's municipal elections. Municipal democracy only works when people can participate. Right now, too many residents face practical and structural barriers to voting, and the result is the declining turnout and weakened democratic legitimacy. In 2022, only 36% of eligible voters voted. Even the record-setting 2025 by-elections saw just 15% turnout. That should concern all of us. City Council has set a clear goal of 60% municipal voter turnout. This motion is about taking practical steps to help reach that goal. The first is access. For some residents, the barrier to voting is simply getting to the polls. Cities across North America have shown that fare-free transit on election days... and mobile polling stations work. Calgary's vote bus is a proven example of meeting people where they're at. This motion sensibly asks staff to explore options, costs, and impacts, not to rush decisions. The second is legitimacy. Vancouver elects its mayor using first past the post. Even in a crowded race where winners can lack majority support, the mayor can be chosen. This weekend's public confidence and limits voter choice. Ranked choice voting offers a credible alternative. Most political parties already use ranked choice voting internally to select their leaders and candidates, including at the federal level. Voters are more familiar with the system than we assume. There's also strong evidence that voters... who use ranked choice voting report higher satisfaction. Exit polls from cities like New York and San Francisco show most voters find it easy to use, feel it better reflects their preferences, and they want to keep it once they've tried it. Another proven way to improve turnout is lowering the voting age to 16. allowing young people to vote while still in school. Studies from Scotland show that people who vote earlier are more likely to continue voting later, helping build lifelong civic participation. If we are serious about strengthening democracy, reversing declining voter turnout, and ensuring election results reflect the will of the majority, we should support this motion. Thank you. Thank you.
Statement Watch
My name is Holly Broadland and I am a resident of Vancouver, a voter and a member of Women Transforming City. I would like to speak in support of this motion. I support all aspects of the motion and would like to specifically speak in support of adopting a ranked choice ballot for our mayoral election. Our city has set an ambitious goal to significantly increase voter turnout and updating our voting system is one practical way to help achieve this. Ranked choice voting is a straightforward improvement to our existing process. It gives every voter the freedom to express a full range of preferences, reduces concerns about vote splitting, and ensures that the winning candidate receives majority support rather than a small plurality. It also encourages more civil campaigns, which I'm sure lots of you would appreciate, as candidates benefit from appealing to a wider share of voters. In addition, we would be leaders. Adopting our RCV would demonstrate Vancouver's municipal leadership, at a time when cities across the country are exploring ways to strengthen democratic participation. This is a reform cities can choose for themselves without waiting for higher levels of government to act. This is a transparent, empirically grounded, and responsive to the needs of residents improvement that councils could show that our city is prepared to lead on democratic innovation rather than follow. I would be proud if my city were a leader in increasing democratic participation. London, Ontario became the first modern city in modern Canadian history to rank choice voting in 2018, and an independent report from Western University found that the process went smoothly. It was supported by systematic testing of the voting equipment and a strong public education campaign. London voters adapted well, with 70% choosing to rank more than one candidate. While turnout was approximately 39%, down slightly from 43% in 2014, Political scientists attributed the change to election cycle factors like voter fatigue and the dynamics of a four-candidate race, not the ranked ballot itself. Importantly, their turnout remained higher than many Ontario municipalities, which often fall between 30 and 35%. Given our city's commitment to increasing participation and strengthening democratic engagement, ranked choice voting offers a practical, proven path forward. It will not only help voters express themselves most fully, but would signal that our city is prepared to lead in building a more representative and engaged local democracy. And on a personal note, I would be proud to have my teenagers. One is of voting age and first voted in the by-election last spring. The other will be voting in a few short years. I would be proud to have them be some of the first youth in Canada to vote for their mayor using RCV. Thank you for your time and leadership.
Statement Watch
Hi. So my name is Ryan Campbell. I'm here on behalf of Fair Vote Canada, and I am no longer a resident of the city of Vancouver. I'm here to speak in favour of the motion as a whole, but I'm going to limit my remarks to the ranked ballot section. I support and our organization supports ranked ballots for mayor, specifically when there's only one position to elect. It is an improvement. First past the post leads to kind of weird results where we have mayors in this province, including previously Vancouver, elected with 30% of the vote or less. That can lead to conflicts with council. It doesn't reflect how people voted. You can imagine, you know, 70% of people voted for someone else. Council reflects that. The two fight. No one gets along. Nothing gets done. It was in the news a couple days ago. I won't name the city, but you know who I'm talking about. Rank ballots are one possible way of addressing this. It's not the only way, but it's fairly common in former British colonies, I'd say. Keep in mind that the mayor is just one voice on council, though, and it would be a mistake not to address this issue for the other 10 positions on council. Council results can also be very unrepresentative, with council majorities in places like Surrey right now elected by just 25% of voters, and council not really reflecting the voter intention or demographics of the city. Proportional ranked ballots and a single transferable vote is a way to address this that is, again, common in former British colonies specifically. It's not the only way to address it, but it's not a bad way to address it either. I also want to mention that last time this came up, I think on a motion from Councillor Fry in the previous council, staff expressed some concerns about ranked ballots leading or reform in general leading to longer ballot papers and more candidates. I don't think there's a strong body of evidence that rank ballots for mayor or council would increase the number of candidates. But even if it doesn't increase it, it is a real problem that we have right now. So I would suggest that the city may want to request raising the signature requirements to 100. It's not a huge barrier, but for a serious candidate, 100 signatures isn't a huge barrier. But for an unserious candidate, it might deter them. So I think that's something to consider as well. I just want to focus into on the weirdness of our current system that, you know, your 10th vote is worth as much as your first vote. So you can have someone who gets 60% of the vote based on being the 10th choice of 60% of voters beat someone who's the first choice of 55% of voters. I don't think that's a tenable position. Even if this isn't amended to reflect council, though, I think it is useful for that purpose. The infrastructure that would be required would be investigated, whether it's for mayor or council. And I would kindly encourage you to look, particularly in Scotland and Australia and Ireland, where these are very common systems to use. Thank you very much for your time.
Statement Watch
Yeah, I'm here to speak in favor of advancing democratic innovations to increase voter turnout. With voter turnout on the constant decline in Vancouver since 2014, the city needs measures to stay on target for our own healthy city strategy, which included a target to increase municipal turnout by 60% by last year. While we may have missed that mark, we can make advancements towards the school with some innovative electoral changes for this upcoming 2026 election. We've been in a turnout decline since 2014 when we had 44% voter turnout. It fell further in 22 with 36.3%. Can you believe we had a 52% voter turnout in 1990? Two possible actionable solutions that we could implement this year are free transit on Election Day and creating a vote bus like the one in Calgary. We have to address that there's unequal impacts on voter participation. Those who depend on transit, the elderly, the disabled, and folks with young children are unequally impacted by barriers to voting. Piloting a Vancouver vote bus could increase voter participation by engaging disenfranchised voters. It's also important that voters from any area of the city can vote on any vote bus. This is an effort to remove barriers to voting, not to enshrine them. I would say that we should even expand the idea to a rolling polling bus to hit critically missed areas in polling and to get even more accurate polling information. There's currently 27 cities with free transit for elections, partnerships with BC Transit, anywhere from Cranbrook to Victoria to Hazleton to Smithers, all over the province. The other big idea in this motion is ranked choice voting for mayor. Ranked choice voting increases voter turnout, it increases democracy, and it increases public trust. In New York City, voter turnout went from 23% in 2021 to 40% in 2025. Once they held a referendum in 2019, it passed by 75% of the vote. The ranked choice voting also increases coalition building and broader candidate outreach, which benefits the voter. In 2025, the New York City voter turnout for mayor was the largest it's been since 1969, increasing by 84% since 2021, although certainly a socialist platform contributed to that increase. We should all have the collective goal of increasing voter turnout. We need to recognize some barriers to voter participation are costs, traffic congestion, and travel time. Having free transit on election day and piloting Vancouver's vote bus means that we can bring democracy to the people and to work towards ranked choice voting for 2030. Please support this motion. Thank you for listening.
Statement Watch
Hello. Please go ahead. Hi. My name is Akshay Balakrishnan. I'm speaking in favor of this motion, and I'd like to speak specifically about the proposed changes to the election process. With our election happening later this year, it makes sense to plan for 2030's election, but I'd like this council to broaden the scope just a little bit. Last summer, I spoke to the BC Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform in favor of using a proportional representation voting system. The committee published a list of recommendations, and number 36 in that list reads, consult local governments to determine the level of interest in alternative electoral systems for municipal elections. So I think it's important for this motion to be aligned with the committee's recommendation, perhaps by explicitly mentioning working with the provincial government to research and implement a new electoral system. My second point is about broadening the motions language. Rank choice voting might not be the worst choice for electing Vancouver's mayor, but it's important to note, but I think it makes sense for us to set more broad parameters for the requested report. It's important to note that in New York City's most recent election, RCV was used in the Democratic Party's primary elections to nominate the mayoral candidate, but the general election still used first past the post. So instead of explicitly mentioning ranked choice ballot, please consider changing it to something like proportional representation, the broader term for the systems that we're talking about. I'd also like this motion to consider adjustments to the system used for electing all positions, the 2030 municipal election, instead of just focusing on mayor's seat. Council and folks watching, you may not know much about the various ways our votes can be tallied, but you should care. Any issue you care about ultimately comes down to who is on council pursuing it. Influencing proportional representation in Vancouver will get the right people elected and give them a stronger mandate. Council, this is an important issue, and Vancouver has the opportunity here to set a bold example and implement a more fair system to elect our future governments. you very much.
Statement Watch
Okay. Hi. I'm a resident of Vancouver, and I support this motion. 20 years ago, I worked at EECOM 911 in the IT department, and when the command center bus came along, it was really exciting for everyone, and it made a lot of sense that you would want a command center to be where the need was, to be where the most emergency coordination could be provided. And so I support this motion to direct staff to write letters, translate, and prepare reports that would increase voter turnout and a clear support of democracy. You're bringing the bus to where the need is the most, where people aren't able to get out as easily. Also, this gives a strong signal that your party supports clear democracy, just like the vote bus in Calgary. It's such a meaningful way to show Vancouver residents that that we support a democracy that cares about residents. And by supporting this motion, you will demonstrate to the residents of Vancouver that you care. Oh, I feel like I've said this several times. Sorry, I'm also a little bit sick. Just a reminder that this motion directs staff to write letters to translate and prepare reports. This feels like a worthwhile effort to show your support of democracy. Now, in terms of the ranked voter item, I'm not an academic, but I have been a resident of Vancouver for 32 years. And the concept of ranked voting sounds amazing to me. And I can see it being a clear concept that I can share with family and friends and people at my kids' school. And I think it would increase voter turnout because it just feels more participatory to us regular voters. And that's it for me. Thank you for the opportunity to speak on this motion that I support. Thank you.
Statement Watch
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, we can. Please go ahead.
Oh, great. Thank you, Mayor and Council, for the opportunity to address you this afternoon. I'm speaking in strong support of the motion, both the bus and the ranked choice ballot, echoing a lot of the advantages of the ranked choice ballot that other speakers have detailed. But specifically, you know, it would be great if we could find out a way to make this happen by this next election rather than having to wait to... 2030 i realize it's not too much time and it could be fairly complicated uh another option uh for this coming election would be for mayor if uh the uh if no candidate gets above above 50 which is a majority then the top two candidates would have a runoff election maybe two or three weeks later or something like that That's also common in many other democracies around the world to select leadership positions. So, again, strongly support for many reasons. Oh, and another reason, I think it could also, you know, stronger voter support for a mayor will give the mayor probably more clout and influence in dealing with other levels of government. if it's showing that there's a stronger mandate, then more people are voting for him. So I think that would benefit, though, the city overall, and hopefully that all candidates would support this as soon as possible. Thank you very much.