Vancouver voter turnout, 2008 to 2022: the numbers, and how the City works them out

Turnout is the share of voters who cast a ballot. In Vancouver's last general election, in 2022, the City put it at 36.3%. This article sets out the figures for the 5 general elections from 2008 to 2022, says where each one comes from, and explains what the City divides by. It ends with the steps the law sets for publishing the 2026 figure. It says nothing about the 2026 result.

How the City calculates turnout

The City's open data notes define voter turnout as "the percentage of registered electors who voted". Two numbers go into it.

The top number is ballots cast. The City counts the ballots put into the counting machines. A ballot counts once, whatever races the voter marked on it. The City's notes keep this separate from "times cast", which is a count for each race.

The bottom number is registered voters. The City's notes define this as the electors "who have registered to vote and are on the voters' list on General Voting Day". Elections BC manages the list, and the City uses it on voting days.

That definition has 3 effects:

1. People who register at the polls are included. Section 30 of the Vancouver Charter lets an eligible person register at the voting place, immediately before voting.
2. Eligible people who never registered are left out. A turnout figure based on every eligible adult in the city would use a different bottom number, and so give a different percentage.
3. Two groups share the list. The notes give separate registered totals for City of Vancouver electors and for electors on UBC Lands and the University Endowment Lands, plus a combined total. Voters from UBC and the UEL get a ballot for school trustee only.

Turnout counts ballots, and votes are counted separately. A voter who marks only a mayor and a voter who fills every race each add 1 ballot. The City's notes record unused choices separately, as "undervotes". So a short ballot does not lower turnout.

Ballots and votes are different counts

The City's 2022 results show why the two numbers differ.

• Ballots cast: 171,494.
• The largest vote total for one mayoral candidate: 85,732.
• Yes and no answers on the first borrowing question: 116,591 yes and 32,964 no, for 149,555 in total.

The answers on that question add up to 21,939 fewer than the number of ballots. A voter who left the question blank added no answer. So did a voter from UBC or the UEL, whose ballot has the school trustee race only. Their ballots can still count in turnout. When a report gives a total for one race or one question, it is a count of votes in that contest. Turnout uses the ballot count.

The figures, election by election

Where the City has published an exact official figure that we could open, we give it. Where we could only find a news report, we name the outlet and say whether the number was preliminary.

2022: 36.3%. The City's announcement of the official results, dated October 19, 2022, says "the final number of ballots cast was 171,494 ballots, equating to a voter turnout of 36.3% (out of 472,665 registered voters)." Dividing 171,494 by 472,665 gives 36.28%, which rounds to the City's figure.

2018: 39%, preliminary. CBC News reported on October 22, 2018 that Vancouver turnout had been estimated at 39 per cent, with 176,744 ballots cast, based on preliminary results. The City's final 2018 figure is in its open data files, which we could not open, so we give the preliminary estimate here.

2014: 43.4%. The City's own page for the 2014 election, in an archived copy, says the 2014 turnout of 43.4% "surpassed our 40% goal." On the night, the City had estimated 44 per cent with more than 187,000 ballots cast, CBC News reported. The gap between those 2 figures shows how much an election night estimate can move.

2011: 34%. CBC News quoted a City statement in 2014 that turnout was up "from 34 percent in the 2011 municipal election".

2008: 31%. CBC News reported in 2014 that turnout "sank to the lowest in Vancouver history in 2008, with just 31 per cent" of voters casting a ballot. The same article put turnout at 32 per cent in 2005, and at more than 50 per cent in 2002.

Put in order, the trend runs:

• 2008: 31% (CBC News)
• 2011: 34% (City statement quoted by CBC News)
• 2014: 43.4% (City)
• 2018: 39%, preliminary (CBC News)
• 2022: 36.3% (City, official)

What changed around the numbers

These facts sit next to the figures. None of them shows on its own why turnout rose or fell.

• 2014. CBC News reported that advance voting was expanded from 4 days to 8, with 120 voting stations across the city. It also reported lineups of up to an hour or more at many polling locations, polls closing late at several locations where machines jammed or ballots ran out, and a City goal of raising turnout to 60 per cent by 2025. The City's 2014 page says 119 candidates ran for 27 positions.
• 2022. The City said advance voting set a record, with 65,127 voters over 5 days at 22 voting places. It issued 10,423 vote by mail packages, and 7,217 came back. The City said 2022 was the first year all eligible voters could vote by mail.

Where the 2026 figure comes from

The Vancouver Charter sets 3 stages for results, and turnout follows the same path.

1. Preliminary results. Section 106 lets the chief election officer announce preliminary results before the official count is complete. They are based on the ballot accounts, the forms each voting place fills in when it counts. Any turnout number given at this stage is preliminary too.
2. The official declaration, by 4pm on October 21. Section 108 requires the chief election officer to declare the results "before 4 p.m. on the fourth day following the close of general voting". For 2026, that is Wednesday, October 21. In 2022, the City published its official turnout figure in its announcement of the official results.
3. A report to Council within 30 days. Section 120 requires the chief election officer to report the results to Council within 30 days of the official declaration. For an election by voting, the report must include "a compilation of the information on the ballot accounts".

In 2022, the City also pointed readers to its open data portal for more statistics, and said a detailed report with an exit survey of voters would follow in the spring of 2023.

For how the count, recount and tie rules work, read our guide to how Vancouver counts the vote. For where voting took place, see where to vote.

Reading a turnout number

Ask 3 questions of any turnout figure you see:

1. Is it preliminary or official? The 2014 figure moved from 44 per cent on the night to 43.4 per cent in the City's later account.
2. What is the bottom number? Registered voters, eligible adults and total population each give a different percentage.
3. Which list is it? A figure may use the City of Vancouver list alone, or the total that includes UBC and the UEL.

The chief election officer of the City of Vancouver declares the official results under the Vancouver Charter. If a figure here disagrees with the City's official declaration or report, the City's figure is correct.