Almost 2,000 Richmondites have requested a mail-in ballot for the byelection to elect one city councillor.
General voting day is on May 29 but advance polls open Saturday, May 15.
The byelection is expected to cost about $716,000 of which about $150,000 is the cost of having a mail-in ballot for all voters.
“While we would certainly like to see more, we know that by-elections are always challenging and encouraging voter turnout is a continuing process,” said city spokesperson Clay Adams.
The city received special permission from the provincial government for widespread mail-in voting to reduce in-person interactions at the polls.
Mail-in voting is usually reserved for people with mobility barriers and those who would be travelling during the election.
This week, however, the provincial government announced it’s changing the rules on municipal elections to allow mail-in voting as a general rule.
As of February 2021, there are 140,676 registered voters in Richmond.
In the 2018 general election for mayor and council as well as school trustees, voter turnout was almost 37 per cent with 48,412 ballots cast (there were 131,339 registered voters including 1,929 who signed up on voting day).
For information about the byelection, go to richmond.ca/elections.
