Why Vote in my Local Election?

You’re not alone! Lots of people ask themselves this question.

In 2022, just 8,546 people, or 32% of voters, participated in North Cowichan’s municipal election.

Unfortunately, lowish voter turnout for local elections doesn’t just happen here. Duncan, Ladysmith and Nanaimo had even lower percentages, while for B.C. overall, the average turnout was around 35%. |

Contrast this with a B.C. voter participation of 58% in the 2024 provincial elections, and the 2025 federal election where Canadians had the highest turnout in more than 20 years (69%).

Here are some reasons for low turnout:

• Voters are following traditional media, with little local coverage
  

Broad domestic policies, mega projects, international relations, dynamics between the parties and the provinces, get a huge amount of media reporting, interviews, and voter attention. With fewer local newspapers and news sources these days, municipal issues and votes rarely break into the open. Voters can feel disconnected from what’s happening locally.

• Voters not realizing the big impact local government has on their lives

The local roads they travel, their water, their parks and recreation centres, the RCMP and fire departments that protect them, libraries, and sewage service are just some of what local government provides. Yet voters may not put these services all together.

• My vote doesn’t matter. What’s one vote anyway?

Actually, one vote means a lot more in local elections than provincial or federal ones, given the 3.6 million registered voters in B.C., or the 27.6 million registered voters in Canada.

The vote difference between local candidates can be tiny. In last year’s by-election, for example, the winner was elected by a margin of 67 votes!

In the 2022 full municipal election, the mayor won by 756 votes, and there were just 300 or 400 votes separating some elected councillors from challengers.

• Maybe I won’t vote because I don’t know who these candidates are and what they stand for.

• We will focus only on the election for mayor and 6 councillors. (Not school trustees).

It’s a lot of trouble to find out candidates’ values, as well as their voting records if they’re running for reelection.

It’s easy to understand how you can feel overwhelmed. We’ll try our best to keep you up to date, informed, with insights, data, and reviews on this website, so you don’t have to spend countless hours hunting through websites, council meeting videos, minutes and local papers. We’ll also deliver Facebook posts, so you can make an informed choice.

The General Voting Day of October 17 (Advance Voting on October 7 and 13) will be here before we know it!

Voting information - where and when to vote!

Advance voting

On Wednesday, October 7 or Tuesday, October 13, you can advance vote at the North Cowichan Municipal Hall (7030 Trans-Canada Highway) from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

General Voting Day

On General Voting Day, Saturday, October 17, you can vote from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, at these locations:

• Chemainus Secondary School | 9947 Daniel Street, Chemainus
  

• Crofton Firehall | 1681 Robert Street, Crofton
  

• École Mount Prevost School | 6177 Somenos Road, North Cowichan
  

• Maple Bay Elementary School | 1500 Donnay Drive, North Cowichan
  

• Municipal Hall | 7030 Trans-Canada Highway, North Cowichan
  

• Quw’utsun Secondary School | 2003 University Way, North Cowichan
  

Mail ballot and voter information

For mail ballot voting, please see this page on the Municipality’s website: https://www.northcowichan.ca/election/information-voters/mail-ballot-voting

This web page offers information on registering in advance, what type of ID is required for voting, and more: https://www.northcowichan.ca/election/information-voters