Local candidate BIOS
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Local election NEWS
Ten burning, local questions answered
Click here to surf the local headlines over the past two months
HOW to vote on Monday:
- Voting is easy, even if you don’t have a voting card. You can prove your identity at the polling station by either providing one piece of government photo ID that has your current address (driver’s licence) or two pieces of ID, one of which has your current address on.
These pieces include, but are not limited to: health card; passport; birth certificate; SIN card; First Nations card; OAS card; credit card; bank statement; personal cheque; government statement; income tax assessment (for a full list go online to Elections.ca).
- If you do not have ID with your address you can show two pieces of ID and take an oath alongside a friend or acquaintance who can vouch for you.
- To find out where your voting station is, go online to Elections.ca and enter your postal code.
- It is legal for a political party to call you and promote its platform leading up to election day.
However, remember that Elections Canada will not call you to tell you where to vote.
If you receive a robocall giving what you believe to be wrong voting information, Elections Canada is asking you to report such illegal activity to 1-800-463-6868.
GEEK OUT: Local bits and bites about the 2015 election
- Because Richmond now has two distinct ridings and no longer will share a member of parliament with Delta, its newly elected representatives will have fewer constituents. The Steveston-Richmond East riding only has 70,676 eligible voters, whereas the old riding of Delta-Richmond-East had 79,831. Meanwhile, the Richmond Centre riding has 67,734 eligible voters whereas it had 84,855 eligible voters in 2011 (it gave some to Steveston-Richmond East when the boundaries shifted).
- With fewer constituents, it means your vote in Richmond means more this election. In Steveston-Richmond-East, one cast ballot this time around is akin to 1.13 votes in 2011. In Richmond Centre, one cast ballot this time around is akin to 1.25 votes.
- Richmond has a notoriously low voter turnout (making a new voter even more influential to the outcome). Nationwide the 2011 turnout was 61.4 per cent whereas in Steveston-Richmond East it was only 51.2 per cent and in Richmond Centre, it was 52.1 per cent.
- This year, Richmond Centre placed dead last in B.C. during advanced polls as only 6,942 people voted ahead of time. However that number reflects a 64 per cent increase in advanced voting from 2011. In Steveston Richmond-East 9,521 people voted, a 102 per cent increase in advanced voting from 2011.
- This election, your vote will not help fund the party you select as the federal government terminated the per-vote subsidy following the 2011 election. This was the payment each political party received from the federal government to reflect their share of the popular vote.
- At age 18, recent Richmond High graduate and Richmond Centre Green Party candidate Vincent Chiu is among the youngest prospective politicians in Canada this federal election. However, there is at least one younger. Green candidate, Casandra Poitras, in Montreal will turn 18 on election day.
- Three of Richmond’s nine candidates have run in past federal elections: Alice Wong (incumbent), Joe Peschisolido (who won in 2000 with Canadian Alliance and changed to Liberal in 2002), and Laura Leah-Shaw (who ran unsuccesfully as a Green candidate in 2011 in Vancouver Quadra).
- Kenny Chiu is the only candidate to hold a civic political seat in Richmond, having served on the Richmond School Board from 2011 to 2014.
- In 2011, Richmond’s only incumbent candidate, Alice Wong, won in a landslide in Richmond Centre with 58.1 per cent of the popular vote. The Liberals placed second with 18.8 per cent while the NDP had 18.2 per cent. Factoring in voter turnout, 30.3 per cent of eligible voters endorsed Wong.
