Inside a Vancouver voting place: the 100-metre rule, scrutineers, secrecy and phones

A Vancouver voting place runs on a short list of rules. Most of them sit in Part I of the Vancouver Charter, the provincial law that sets how the city holds its elections. They decide who may be in the room, how close a campaign may come, and what happens to anyone who tries to vote twice or pressure a voter. Here is what the sections say, in the order you meet them on the way in.

Outside: the 100-metre zone

Section 125(4) of the Charter lists four things a person must not do "at or within 100 metres" of a building or place where voting is taking place at the time:

1. canvass, ask for votes, or otherwise try to influence how someone votes,
2. display, post or leave a copy of a ballot marked for a particular result,
3. post or display election advertising, or any material that identifies a candidate or elector organization (a local political party), unless the chief election officer allows it, and
4. carry, wear or hand out a flag, badge or other item that shows support for a candidate, an elector organization or a result.

The province's 2026 Candidate's Guide to Local Elections says this covers "bumper stickers on vehicles parked outside the voting place" and badges worn by supporters.

The Charter ties the zone to the time voting is under way, so it applies on each advance voting day (October 3, 7, 10 and 13) and on October 17. One passage in the provincial guide mentions only general voting day for candidates. The Charter's wording is wider, and the Charter is the law.

The presiding election official, the person in charge of a voting place, can enforce the zone directly. Section 16(2)(b) lets that official go onto the property where the material is and remove it or cover it. Our guide to election sign rules covers signs elsewhere in the city.

Who may be in the room

Section 82 starts with a ban: nobody may be present at a voting place during voting unless the section allows it. The allowed list is:

• people there to vote, and people in their care,
• people helping a voter,
• election officials,
• a candidate's official agent,
• one scrutineer for each candidate, for each ballot box in use, unless a by-law allows more, and
• other people the presiding election official permits.

Candidates are on a shorter list. Section 82(4) says a candidate must not be at a voting place during voting "other than for the purpose of voting".

Everyone in the room except voters, the people in their care and police helping the official must make a solemn declaration, a formal sworn promise, to keep the ballot secret (section 82(5)).

What scrutineers may do

A scrutineer is a person a candidate appoints in writing "to represent the candidate by observing the conduct of voting and counting proceedings" (section 53). The appointment is filed with the chief election officer.

At the voting place, section 54 says a scrutineer must carry a copy of the appointment and show it to the presiding official before starting. The official may mark out spots where scrutineers stand, and they must stay there. Section 83(3) lets them add their own seals to the ballot boxes.

A scrutineer may also challenge a voter. Section 88 lets an election official, a candidate representative or another voter challenge a person, in person, before the ballot is handed over. The grounds are that the person is not entitled to vote, or has taken a reward for voting. The challenged person can still vote by giving the presiding official satisfactory evidence, or by making a solemn declaration. The official records who made the challenge.

The provincial Candidate's Guide says scrutineers are there "to neutrally observe". They must not campaign, must not handle election documents, and must not wear anything that shows support for a candidate "while they are in or near the voting place".

Your ballot is secret

Section 85 says voting "must be by secret ballot". Everyone present, voters included, must not:

• interfere with a person marking a ballot,
• try to find out how another person voted,
• pass on how another person voted, or
• urge a person, directly or indirectly, to show their ballot.

Section 91 sets the steps. You mark the ballot behind the screen, fold it to hide your marks, put it in the ballot box and leave. Section 92 allows one person at a voting screen. The exception is a person helping a voter who cannot mark the ballot because of a disability or difficulty reading or writing (section 93). That helper signs a statement first.

Section 85(4) adds that a voter cannot be required, in any legal proceeding, to reveal how they voted.

Phones and photos of ballots

Three sections of the Charter apply to a photo of a marked ballot:

• section 85(2) bans urging another person to show their ballot,
• section 125(4)(b) bans displaying or posting a marked ballot within 100 metres of the voting place, and
• section 125(3)(c) bans taking a ballot out of the voting place without authority.

Section 19 lets the presiding official keep order and regulate the room. If you want your phone for a voter's guide or a list of choices, ask the official at the table first.

Keeping order

Section 19 also lets the presiding official limit how many people are inside. A person who is there without permission, disturbs the peace, interferes with voting or breaks an election rule can be told to leave the place and its immediate area, and removed if they refuse. The official can call on police for help. Section 14(5) lets the chief election officer appoint police officers as election officials for this job.

Offences at the ballot box

Section 86 is one sentence long: "A person must not vote more than once in the same election." Section 125(2) makes it an offence, together with voting when not entitled, getting a ballot in another person's name, and breaking ballot secrecy.

Two offences carry heavier penalties:

• Vote buying (section 123): giving or accepting money, a gift, a job or any other benefit to change how, or whether, someone votes.
• Intimidation (section 124): using or threatening force, violence, harm or loss to make a person vote, stop them voting or punish them for their vote.

Section 126 sets the penalties:

A prosecution must start within one year of the act (section 125.2). The province's Voter's Guide says to contact the chief election officer or the police. Police investigate, and Crown counsel, the government's prosecutors, decide whether to lay charges.

If you are in line at 8pm

Section 84(2) says a voter who is inside, or in line outside, at the closing time is entitled to vote. Nobody who arrives later may vote.

Find a voting place on our where to vote page, and read how to mark the ballot before you go.

The Vancouver Charter is the final word on these rules, and the City of Vancouver's election officials apply them at every voting place.