The advance voting period for the October 2026 civic election in Metro Vancouver’s second most populous city ended with about 52,600 ballots cast, representing a 47 per cent increase over the 2022 civic election.
On Friday, the City of Surrey reported that voters cast 16,899 more ballots during this civic election’s advance voting period than the 35,701 early ballots recorded in 2022. Advance voting took place over four days: Oct. 7, 10, 14, and 15.
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The total represents about 15 per cent of Surrey’s 352,148 registered voters — before accounting for the upcoming tallies for the main voting day and mail-in ballots.
Based on the City’s figures, approximately 10.5 per cent of the 339,640 registered voters participated in advance voting in 2022.
Residents also had more locations to choose from, with the City expanding advance voting from six locations in 2022 to 10 for this election. The municipal government noted that the additional locations also provided more space for voters and made voting more convenient.
General voting day is Saturday, Oct. 17, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Surrey residents will elect one mayor, eight city councillors, and six School Board trustees. On this final day of voting, voters can go to any one of the 52 polling locations.
It remains to be seen whether the expanded advance voting locations will translate into higher overall turnout, or whether more voters have simply chosen to cast their ballots early.
The impact of the overlapping snap provincial general election on civic election turnout in communities across B.C. is also unclear. Provincial advance voting runs for six days, from Friday, Oct. 16 to Wednesday, Oct. 21, overlapping with the civic election’s main voting day on Saturday, Oct. 17. Provincial general voting day follows one week later, on Saturday, Oct. 24. During this separate provincial election, voters will select the MLA for their riding, which will help determine which provincial political party leads the next provincial government.
Surrey’s advance voting increase for the civic election follows an even larger jump in Vancouver, where advance voting participation for the civic election grew by approximately 60 per cent compared with 2022, exceeding Surrey’s 47 per cent increase.
The City of Vancouver’s preliminary advance voting counts totalled 103,810 voters, nearly twice Surrey’s 52,600. Both cities held four advance voting days this year, although Vancouver’s increase came despite having one fewer day than in 2022. In addition to selecting elected municipal officials, Vancouver voters are also completing a non-binding public safety plebiscite on enhancing enforcement against the public use of hard drugs, and creating a secure medical treatment facility for people with severe mental health and addictions issues.
The two cities also differed substantially in the number of places available to vote early. Vancouver offered 59 advance voting locations — drastically up from 22 in 2022 — across its jurisdiction size of 115 sq. km., compared with Surrey’s 10 advance voting locations across 316 sq. km.
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