Hours at several Vancouver polling stations extended due to delays

City of Vancouver 2022 election voting location at the Vancouver Public Library in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Prospective voters at several Vancouver polling stations will have more time to cast their ballots than the rest of the province, as a result of a series of delays.

The civic election polls opened at 8 am, and were set to close at 8 pm, but six spots in Vancouver will stay open later.

Carnarvon Community Elementary School – 8:38 pm
Vancouver Public Library – Central Branch – 8:15 pm
Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House – 8:12 pm
Vancouver Aquatic Centre – 8:10 pm
Waverley Elementary School – 8:15 pm
John Oliver Secondary School – 9:05 pm.

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The City says that opening delays were to blame for the majority of the issues, but it was a power outage which forced voters to find another spot to cast their ballot after they arrived to find the lights off at John Oliver Secondary School on election day.

According to the City, the unofficial election results will be announced starting at around 9 pm.

There is a scheduled power outage on Election Day at the John Oliver Secondary School voting location until 5:30pm. WTF

How did @CityofVancouver & @bchydro let this happen? This is completely unacceptable. #vanpoli pic.twitter.com/jhVCqXMrYi

— Scott de Lange Boom (@Scott_dLB) October 15, 2022

“There is a scheduled power outage on Election Day at the John Oliver Secondary School voting location until 5:30 pm. WTF,” Scott De Lange Boom wrote on Twitter Saturday morning.

Wouldn’t BC Hydro know of elections? Do THEY care? Don’t THEY have to announce from the rooftops or EVER check with the city about when and why THEY schedule things? Is there a flag that comes up when booking an outage that says “not a good time or loc”? Lol No one’s ‘fault’ actu

— nednednerB the Schizophrenic (@nerBeater) October 15, 2022

“Wouldn’t BC Hydro know of elections? Do THEY care? Don’t THEY have to announce from the rooftops or EVER check with the city about when and why THEY schedule things?” Another person wrote.

BC Hydro’s website shows planned work on equipment was being done, but many suggested that should have been rescheduled to another day as a result of the election.

“The City of Vancouver and John Oliver Secondary were not made aware of the planned power outage. For more information regarding the power outage, please reach out to BC Hydro,” the city said in a statement to Daily Hive Saturday night.

The city says the polling station’s hours will be extended by one hour to make up for the time lost by the outage. People can vote at the East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street location until 9:05 pm.

Results of the civic election is expected to follow the closing of the polling stations.

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