Media guidelines

The City of Vancouver encourages all media to report on the municipal election at every stage. Balanced media coverage stimulates public debate, and will help increase voter turn-out. Here are a few points, in chronological order, that may help local media and Election staff to facilitate media coverage where possible and, at the same time, avoid inappropriate electioneering or compromising the secrecy of the voting process, or invading the privacy of individuals.

Candidate announcements and electioneering

City facilities should not be used for campaign purposes. There are two exceptions:

• the third floor foyer of City Hall can be used for incidental interviews and media scrums. However, pre-planned campaigning in the third floor foyer is not allowed. This type of activity would include news conferences, pamphlet distribution, electioneering, events, etc.
• the outside steps of City Hall can provide candidates with the "image" of City government they are seeking, either as a backdrop for TV coverage, or as part of a photo shoot.

Council Chamber is not to be used for electioneering or any other election-related activity.

Offices where City business takes place are not to be used for electioneering.

Candidate list

The final list of candidates will be provided to media in a news release.

Preparing to get election results

Media outlets wishing to receive raw election results electronically on November 15 must contact Jonathan Mark before October 10. Media outlets wishing to receive electronic copy of the unofficial results news release can self-subscribe to the City's news release mailing list or send an appropriate e-mail address, before November 15, to Kim Sanderson.

Advance polls

Advance polls will be held November 5, 8, 10 and 12 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at City Hall, as well as Dunbar, Trout Lake, Sunset and West End Community Centres. Election officials will report on advance poll activity levels, but not results. Media should note the same constraints apply to advance polls as on general voting day (see below).

Advertising on voting day

Local media are reminded that partisan election advertising is NOT allowed on general voting day, which is November 15, 2008. Candidates who do place election advertising on general voting day, and any media that accept such advertising, could face a fine of up to $5,000 and up to one year in prison. However, this ad ban does not apply to the City of Vancouver's Election Office, which advocates for the voting process, not particular candidates or political parties.

Voting Day coverage (before 8 p.m. November 15)

The City recognizes that local media want to get general images of people voting, and images of specific candidates voting. The City will permit such coverage, with a number of preconditions:

• media coverage must not interfere with the smooth operation of the voting place.
• camera operators and reporters should approach the Presiding Election Officer (PEO) upon entering the voting place.
• camera operators/reporters must sign a declaration of secrecy upon entering a voting place.
• electioneering at a voting place, or within 100m of a voting place, is strictly forbidden (as is any media coverage of such activity). This means candidates who are voting, with attendant media coverage, must not wear or carry election materials (buttons etc). Also, political commentary must be filmed more than 100m away from a voting place.
• interviews or "scrums" in the voting place are not allowed.
• "exit interviews" must not block voter traffic, nor be audible to people who have yet to vote.
• the privacy of individuals in the voting place, and the secrecy of the ballot, should be respected by the media at all times.
• The difference between electioneering and straightforward media coverage of the election can be, at times, a subtle distinction. PEOs must be able to exercise discretion in this area.

There may be individuals in the voting place who do not wish to have their picture taken. The PEO can assist these individuals by announcing to the room that a media outlet and camera person will come in and take pictures.

Voting Day coverage (after 8 p.m. November 15)

Polls close in the City of Vancouver at 8 p.m. The first poll results are expected to arrive at City Hall around 8:30 p.m. Typically, the last poll results arrive around 9:45 to 10 p.m. During this time, City Election staff will be extremely busy tabulating results of the various races in the election. Distribution or data manipulation that is customized for specific media will not be considered.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Council Chamber on the third floor of Vancouver City Hall will NOT be open to the public and media on November 15, 2008. Election officials will be available for interviews on the first floor of City Hall after 8 p.m.

The following arrangements have been made to display election results to the public after 8 p.m. on November 15:

• first poll results are not likely to be available before 8:30 p.m.
• election results will be continuously displayed on the City's web site at vancouver.ca (this will be refreshed approximately every five minutes)
• tabular results of all four races plus the questions will be reported on the public web site, as will a map of the Mayor's race results
• raw data will be sent electronically (via FTP) to media outlets that have made prior arrangements. These results will be refreshed approximately every five minutes.
  
• a news release of unofficial results will be issued by the City some time after 10 p.m. on November 15. This release will be faxed to local media that night, and made available on the City's web pages, and via the City's news release listserv. An Excel spreadsheet of the unofficial, poll-by-poll results will be available on the City's election Web site some time after 10 p.m. on November 15.

Official election results will be declared by 4 p.m. on November 19.

How to interpret Election 2008 results

The Vancouver Voters List for the 2005 municipal election was 40 per cent larger than the 2002 voters list (more than 411,000 voters for 2005, compared to 293,000 voters in 2002). This increase was attributed to the amalgamation of voters lists from Elections Canada and Elections BC.

By comparison, the list for the 2008 municipal election has approximately 405,000 voters. 

These dramatic changes in the size of the voters list make it problematic to compare percentage turnouts between elections. 

To avoid confusion, Vancouver Election staff will give absolute numbers of voters in Election 2008. Staff may also give voter turnout as a percentage, but comparisons with percentages from previous elections would be inaccurate and misleading.

Federal, provincial and municipal voters lists are always a work in progress. They are a 'snapshot' of the population at the time. As time passes, the lists grow more inaccurate. These inaccuracies can be caused by life changes that are not reported to Elections Canada or Elections BC, such as: migration into and out of the province; migration between municipalities; change of address within the municipality; new voters turning 18 years of age; and death.

Vancouver's Chief Election Officer reminds voters that it is their responsibility to update their own voter information. The City helps voters do this by accepting new registrations in advance (deadline is September 23) and on the day of voting (advance voting opportunities are November 5, 8, 10 and 12, and election day is November 15).

Updating voter information is also easily done by:

• registering and updating information online at Elections BC.
• checking the box on your income tax form that gives permission to update voter information from your tax return.
• updating your voter information when you change your address on your B.C. driver's licence.

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