Richmond News
The budget for mail-in voting in the recent Richmond municipal election was $120,000 but this only yielded 926 votes – 2.6 per cent of the total votes cast.
In contrast, in the 2021 by-election for one council seat – won by Andy Hobbs – 14.5 per cent of voters cast a mail-in ballot, with a total of 1,895.
The 2021 by-election was the first time mail-in voting was allowed for all voters, put in place to encourage social distancing due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. …
“The voter turnout was really terrible,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie at Monday’s committee meeting where city council was going over a report on the municipal election. However, he noted, other cities, with the notable exception of Surrey, had worse turnouts.
Of the 35,093 votes cast in 2022, 23 per cent were cast in advance polls. …