There was a heavy turnout Wednesday at the advance poll of the Vancouver 2010 plebiscite which asks if Vancouver should host the 2010 Winter Games.
The heavy turnout came as a surprise to elections officials, who said the number of ballots cast per hour early in the day was double the rate cast during advance polls for the November 16 civil election.
Marg Coulson, the city’s deputy elections official said, “it’s been very heavy voting, a steady stream. We had not really expected it to be this strong”.
Unofficial exit polling by the Vancouver Sun showed the overwhelming majority of those surveyed said they voted Yes to the question of whether they want the city to support the bid. Only a handful said they voted No.
The volume of voters surprised even veteran elections. Don Reid, a former city employee who acts as a presiding poll official, said he could not remember a plebiscite or by-election that drew such strong voter turnout on the advance poll.
Coulson said the turnout was on its way to shattering her original prediction that about 1,000 people would vote in the two advance polls.
Coulson said she has contingency plans for calling in extra staff on Feb. 22 if the turnout becomes unmanageable, but isn’t expecting problems.
She added that the unofficial result should be known by 10 p.m. on Feb. 22 and the official result announced by 4 p.m. on Feb. 26.
