Kelowna officials running the civic election in the city say more people voted in advance polls this time round than four years.
According to chief election officer Karen Needham, a total of 7,619 ballots were cast in the first four days of advanced polls across the city, compared with 7,226 in the four advance polls held prior to the2104 election.
For this election, however, a fifth day of advance polling was added and as of noon Friday, the total number of ballots cast in the advance poll was 8,049 said Needham.
“We are very happy with the numbers,”she said.
“We’ve seen a strong voter turnout to date, and hope Kelowna continues to show its strength in numbers on general voting day (today).”
The civic election in Kelowna will pit four men against each other vying for the mayor’s chair—incumbent Colin Basran and challengers Tom Dyas, Bob Schewe and Bobby Kennedy.
Twenty-one candidates are running for the eight councillor positions including seven of the eight incumbents. The other incumbent, Tracy Gray, is not running for re-election because she is seeking the federal Conservative nomination in Kelowna-Lake Country.
Lake Country nearly doubled its voter turnout this election with its advanced polls, with 923 votes over the course of two days. In 2014, a total of 2219 votes were collected.
Lake Country chief elections officer Willene Perez said there’s more advertising this year compared to the last election for advanced polls and the polls are easier to access.
This year there will be 12 voting locations for Kelowna voters to chose from to cast their ballots.
• Kelowna City Hall, 1435 Water Street
• Capital News Centre, 4105 Gordon Drive
• Dr. Knox Middle School, 121 Drysdale Boulevard
• East Kelowna Hall, 2704 East Kelowna Road
• Evangel Church, 3261 Gordon Drive
• Hollywood Education Centre, 1040 Hollywood Road
• Okanagan Mission Hall, 4409 Lakeshore Road
• Orchard Park Shopping, Pear Court, 2271 Harvey Avenue
• Parkinson Recreation Centre, 1800 Parkinson Way
• Rutland Senior Secondary, 705 Rutland Road N
• Springvalley Middle School, 350 Ziprick Road
• Watson Road Elementary, 475 Yates Road
Polls are open 8 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. today, with the exception of the one at Orchard Park Shopping Centre, which will close at 6 p.m.
Designated voter parking will be available at both the Kelowna City Hall and Parkinson Recreation locations. All voting locations are accessible to all electors, including a voter assist terminal at Parkinson Recreation Centre.
To be eligible to vote in Kelowna you must have lived in the city for at least 30 days and B.C. for six months, be 18 years or older and a Canadian citizen.
To report a typo, email:
newstips@kelownacapnews.com.
@KelownaCapNews
newstips@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.