Dan Fumano: Dual election campaigns competing for talent, lawns, and air space

B.C. lawns are blooming this autumn with an unusual multicoloured crop: political signs promoting different parties at different levels of government.

The B.C. NDP’s snap election call, coming just days after the scheduled municipal campaign began, means almost a month of concurrent local-and-provincial campaigns, something unprecedented in B.C., at least in recent history. The dual, duelling campaigns are creating intense competition for the limited pool of workers, candidates, volunteers, and air space.

Elections B.C. is currently seeking 17,000 election officials to work across the province on election day and advance voting days. The week before NDP Leader David Eby’s snap election call Tuesday, Elections B.C. contacted people who had worked on past elections, notifying them more work opportunities could be coming “this year.” But there are some concerns Elections B.C. might have trouble finding enough people.

One election officer, who spoke on the condition he would not be identified because of a confidentiality agreement, said he signed on months ago to work the municipal election on Oct. 17. Elections B.C. has now offered him a similar role for the provincial election the following Saturday, Oct. 24, but for about half the pay. He’s not inclined to accept the role, and believes other experienced election officers might also be reluctant to work a second consecutive Saturday for a 15-hour shift for lower pay.

Concurrent elections also create the possibility of a campaign volunteer wearing two badges at the same time — one for a municipal party and another for a provincial organization — going door-knocking to support both parties simultaneously.

This would appear to be allowed. A municipal and a provincial party cannot share expenses like paid campaign workers. However, unpaid volunteer hours don’t count as election expenses, and are not subject to the same restrictions, an Elections B.C. official said.

But it may not actually happen. Several municipal parties told Postmedia that even if Elections B.C. is OK with volunteers doing double-duty and campaigning for a provincial party at the same time, the parties would not permit it.

The B.C. NDP said the same thing.

“When someone is on a B.C. NDP shift, they are canvassing for the B.C. NDP, not a municipal candidate,” the NDP said in a statement. “Outside of their shifts with us, volunteers are free to support any municipal candidate they like.”

Broadcast advertising rates have increased dramatically in some markets since the snap election call, local political operatives say. Some municipal campaigns may have already bought ad space back in the summer and locked in prices, but those who haven’t may have trouble now competing with provincial campaigns with bigger budgets.