Record high turnout for first day of advance voting in Vancouver

Vancouver had a record-high turnout on the first day of advanced voting for the 2026 municipal elections.

Early voting kicked off on Saturday, Oct. 3, with the first of four advanced voting dates.

Over the course of 12 hours, a total of 21,824 voters cast their ballots for Vancouver’s next mayor, council, park board and school board.

That figure is a 196 per cent increase over the turnout from the first day of advance voting during the 2022 municipal elections, when only 7,380 people voted early.

The demand for mail-in ballots has also jumped, compared to figures from the last election four years ago.

As of Oct. 5, more than 21,000 mail-in ballots had been requested, up from the 10,523 requested in 2022, of which only 7,217 were returned.

Vancouverites have three more dates to vote early: Oct. 7, 10 and 13. General voting day is on Oct. 17.

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