As of last Saturday, about 3.4 per cent of registered voters had cast a ballot in the Richmond byelection to choose one councillor.
About 3,800 people voted in the advance polls and about 970 mail-in ballots had been returned last week.
For those who still want to vote, 10 polling station will be open on general election day, May 29.
Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Burnett Secondary, Cambie Secondary, Cook Elementary, Hamilton Elementary, MacNeill Secondary, McMath Secondary, McNair Secondary, Richmond Secondary School, Steveston-London Secondary and Talmey Elementary.
All mail-in ballots, for those who have requested them, need to be at city hall by 8 p.m. May 29 in order to be counted – it is too late to put them in the mail.
There are 10 candidates running in the byelection that was triggered by former Coun. Kelly Greene being elected to the provincial legislature.
Three candidates are aligned with parties, including Karina Reid, the RITE Richmond candidate, current school trustee Ken Hamaguchi, running under the Richmond Community and Education Party and Jonathan Ho, running with the Richmond Community Coalition.
The Richmond Citizens’ Association didn’t put forward a candidate but it is officially endorsing Reid.
Independent candidates are Andy Hobbs, John Roston, Kay Hale – who has run for the B.C. Conservatives in the past – Mark Lee, Sunny Ho, Dennis Page and Jennifer Huang.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, no in-person all-candidates meetings were held.
However, the Richmond Poverty Reduction Coalition partnered with three other non-profits to formulate a Q&A for candidates.
Click here to read their responses to questions about social justice.
The Richmond Arts Coalition also compiled a questionnaire for candidates. To see their answers to arts-related questions, click here.
An all-candidates meeting was hosted by Steveston Community Society last week, attended by 100 people via Zoom. However, the meeting was not recorded for further viewing.
Several prominent Richmond residents, including sitting councillors, have endorsed candidates over the past week. Furthermore, some unions are also backing candidates.
To cast a ballot in the byelection, voters have to have lived in Richmond for the past 30 days and in B.C. for six months and be a Canadian citizen.
Furthermore, people who are “non-resident property owners” can also vote in the byelection. This is for anyone who’s owned property in Richmond for 30 days before the election, but the property can’t be wholly or jointly owned by a corporation, business or organization.
For information on voting and candidates, go to richmond.ca/elections.
Results from the byelection are expected after 8 p.m. Saturday.
Stay tuned to Richmond-News.com for results as they come in.