WATCH: If you haven’t already voted in the transit plebiscite time really is running out. There are just a few hours left to cast your ballot and you’ll need to drop it off in person. Ted Chernecki reports.
The last chance to submit a ballot in the Metro Vancouver’s transit plebiscite is just hours away.
The deadline for ballots getting to Elections BC is 8 p.m. tonight. A postmark is not good enough, at this point voters will need to hand deliver their ballot to one of the nine plebiscite offices across Metro Vancouver.
In this week’s lead up to the deadline both the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ sides were showing no signs of slowing down in their campaigning efforts.
As of May 20, Elections B.C. has received and screened more than 654,000 ballots; which is 41.9 per cent of the voting packages mailed to registered voters in Metro Vancouver. Local area mayors from the ‘yes’ side are continuing to push their message to voters this week and last minute ballots are expected.
“We’re getting out there to tell people the same message, that there’s a million more people moving to this region — that’s going to add to congestion on roads, congestion on buses, and we have a plan to address that,” said Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore.
“And it’s really important that if we want to have this livable region that we vote in favour of this referendum so we can build the transit system we need.”
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The most vocal opponent to the no side is the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. In the final days, the federation spokesperson says they will continue to pound away at Translink’s wasteful record.
“We hear a lot of excitement on the no side. People feel like their friends and neighbours have gotten out and voted,” said No Translink Tax spokesperson Jordan Bateman.
“Certainly there’s been a higher turnout than municipal projections, higher turnout than the ‘yes’ side wanted… that bodes well for the ‘no’ side. So we’re optimistic. We don’t have all that money to do the fancy polling and all the internals that the ‘yes’ side is doing but it seems like all the indicators are going in the right direction.”
Voters are being asked whether they support a 0.5 per cent “Metro Vancouver Congestion Improvement Tax,” which would help fund a variety of new transit projects – including a new Pattullo Bridge and an extension of the Millennium Line to Broadway and Arbutus – in addition to general maintenance and improvements on existing roads.
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