Information for voters

What’s on the ballot?

In this election, voters will choose:

  • One (1) Mayor & ten (10) Councillors for Vancouver City Council;
  • Seven (7) Park Commissioners for the Vancouver Board of Parks & Recreation; and
  • Nine (9) School Trustees for the Vancouver School Board

All of these officials are elected at-large for a three-year term.

Voters will also decide whether to allow the City to borrow money for major construction projects (for example, re-build certain community centres, or extensive re-construction of water or sewer lines).

Who can vote?

You are allowed to vote in a Vancouver civic election if you are

  • a resident elector (ie. you live in Vancouver)
  • OR
  • a non-resident property elector (ie. you live elsewhere in B.C. but you own property in Vancouver)

You must meet ALL of the following requirements to vote:  

  1. You must be 18 years of age or older on general voting day (November 15, 2008).
  2. You must be a Canadian citizen.
  3. You must have been a resident of B.C. for at least six months immediately before you register to vote.
  4. You must have
    • been a resident of Vancouver for at least 30 days immediately before you register to vote (for resident electors)
    • OR
    • owned a property in Vancouver for at least 30 days immediately before you register to vote (for non-resident property electors).
  5. You must not have been disqualified by law from voting.

Resident Electors: Frequently-Asked Questions

Non-Resident Property Electors: Frequently-Asked Questions

As the University Endowment Lands (UEL) are outside the City of Vancouver boundaries, UEL residents cannot vote for Mayor, Councillors or Park Commissioners. UEL residents may only vote for School Trustees.

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Registering to vote

Before you vote, you must be registered. 

If you haven’t registered in advance, you can register at the voting place on election day. To register at the voting place, you will be required to show two pieces of identification containing your name and address. One of these pieces of identification must also contain your signature. These identification requirements apply to both resident electors and non-resident property electors.

View examples of acceptable ID

If you are a non-resident property elector, you will also have to provide proof of ownership, and proof of the consent of the other owners of your property.

View examples of acceptable proof of ownership

View proof of consent form (PDF 39 kb)

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Where to vote

The City is divided into voting divisions. See our voting division map (PDF 641 kb) for more information.

To vote on election day, you must go to the designated voting place in your voting division. 

If your name is on the City's Voters List, you will receive a "Where to Vote" card in the mail around the end of October. This card will show your voting division and voting place address.

You can look up your designated voting place using our Voting Place Search Tool or view and print our list of Voting Places. (PDF 37 kb)

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How to vote

  • If you received a "Where to Vote" card, bring it with you.
  • An election official will check your name on the Voters List.
  • If you are not registered on the Voters List, you will have to present two pieces of ID. See the ID requirements »
  • You will be given a ballot, a special pen to mark the ballot, and a secrecy sleeve. View a sample ballot (PDFPDF 2 mb)
  • Go to the voting booth and make your choices with the special pen provided. Follow the instructions on the ballot.
  • Put your completed ballot in the secrecy sleeve provided, then walk over to the voting machine.
  • voting station
  • voting machine
  • ballot being fed into voting machine
  • The AccuVote automated voting machines were used in the last four Vancouver elections, and will be used for the 2008 election. They are accurate, simple to use, and can provide final election results within hours after the close of voting. Learn more about the AccuVote
  • Either you or a City election official will feed your ballot into the voting machine. (It doesn't matter which way the ballot is fed into the AccuVote -- the machine will read it properly from any direction).
  • You're done! That's all there is to it.
  • Now you can wait for the election results to come in after the polls close at 8 p.m. Watch this website for results starting around 8:30 p.m. on November 15. Unofficial results should be available around 10 p.m.
  • Official election results will be available by 4 p.m. on November 19

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Requesting assistance to vote

Assistance is available if

  • you need help to mark your ballot (because of physical disability or difficulties with reading or writing);
  • you are physically unable to enter the voting place;
  • you have difficulty speaking or reading English; or
  • you are a patient in a medical or assisted-living facilities and you have a physical disability, illness, or injury that affects your ability to vote at another voting opportunity.

Find out how to get assistance to vote

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Voting by mail

You may vote by mail if

  • you have a physical disability, illness or injury that affects your ability to vote at another voting opportunity, or
  • you expect to be absent from the City on general voting day and at the times of all advance voting opportunities.

The mail ballot procedure is as follows:

  1. Fill out an application form (PDFPDF 996 kb) and send it to the Election Office.
  2. Receive mail ballot package in the mail (after November 3).
  3. Fill out ballot and return it to Election Office before 8:00 pm on November 15.

More information about voting by mail and registering to vote. (PDFPDF 227 kb).

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Voting in advance

All electors are eligible to vote in an advance voting opportunity if they choose to do so.

Advance voting will take place on November 5, 8, 10 and 12 from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. at the following five locations:

  • City Hall
  • Dunbar Community Centre
  • Trout Lake Community Centre
  • West End Community Centre
  • Sunset Community Centre

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Candidate profiles

Every candidate for Mayor, Councillor, Park Commissioner and School Trustee in Vancouver will be offered the option of submitting candidate profile information with their nomination papers. These profiles can include

  • a statement of up to 150 words,
  • a recent, head-and-shoulders photograph of the candidate, and
  • contact information.

There are strict criteria about how this information can be submitted.

The Candidate Profiles will be provided to the voters of Vancouver to assist in the election process.  Printed versions will be mailed to all Vancouver addresses and distributed to Vancouver libraries, community centres and other civic facilities. You can also download the PDF version from this website.

Candidate nomination documents and profiles

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Nomination documents

Each candidate must file nomination documents. The statutory period for receiving nomination documents began at 9 am on September 30, 2008, and ended at 4 pm on October 10, 2008.

By law, the nomination documents were available for public inspection until December 19, 2008 (30 days after the declaration of the election results).

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Campaign financial disclosure statements

Each candidate, elector organization and campaign organizer in the general local election is required to submit to the City Clerk, within 120 days of general voting day, a campaign financing disclosure statement. The deadline for submission of financing disclosure statements with respect to the 2008 civic election is March 16, 2009.

By law, the campaign financial disclosure statements will be available for public inspection from the time of filing until 7 years after general voting day for the election to which they relate.  They will be posted on this website and will also be available for inspection at the City Clerk's Office at City Hall.

View the campaign financial disclosure statements

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Borrowing questions (Capital Plan)

Every time there is an election, there is also a vote for the City's three-year Capital Plan. In the Capital Plan, the City decides which major construction projects to do over the next three years (for example, re-build certain community centres, or extensive re-construction of water or sewer lines throughout the City). The Capital Plan questions on the ballot ask the people of Vancouver if they want the City to borrow the money for these projects. Answers to these questions help City Council make choices about the City and about how your tax dollars will be spent.

View the borrowing questions

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Request more information

If you wish, you can sign up to receive information by email about the 2008 general local election in Vancouver. Just fill in our online form .

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Information in other languages

For the convenience of voters whose first language is not English, we have translated a fact sheet and an advertisement into the following languages:

If you have difficulty speaking, reading or understanding English, your voting place may have people with fluency in languages other than English who can help you. Ask at the voting place. You may also bring your own translator, who would be required to take an oath of secrecy given by the PEO.

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Information for deaf voters

For the convenience of deaf voters, here is a video that provides an overview of the voting process:

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Comments or questions? Send e-mail to info@vancouver.ca

© 2008, City of Vancouver

Last Modified: Thursday, March 12, 2009