Last month’s byelection to replace a school trustee in Coquitlam cost School District 43 (SD43) about $200 per vote.
The amount was revealed to the Tri-City News on March 10 as a report from chief election officer Kerri Lore came before the city’s committee meeting, showing only 1.15 per cent — or 1,169 out of 101,868 eligible voters — went to the polls in February.
The school byelection, with advance voting on Feb. 12 and 15 and on general election day on Feb. 22, was held to replace Jennifer Blatherwick, who was elected as the NDP MLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville last October; DPAC president Rosey Manhas won her spot.
As per Section 37(1) of the School Act, the municipality is required to run elections and byelections for the school district. For this byelection, SD43 will repay the city in the range of $200,000 to $220,000 after the city pulled money from its own election reserve.
Lore said there are still some outstanding expenses to be paid out.
Because of the expected lower turnout, she said the city took a number of steps to keep costs low, including reducing the number of:
- voting places to eight (from the normal 21)
- advance voting opportunities to two (from four)
- staff at each voting location to four (usually between eight to 14, depending on voting location)
As well, the city got discounted rates for voting equipment because it inked two contracts for the byelection and the 2026 general local election in November.
And it only advertised through city and SD43 channels.
Council response
Mayor Richard Stewart congratulated the city’s election team for trying to get the word out about the byelection.
Still, the turnout was “lower than I thought it would be,” he lamented while pressing the provincial government “to find a better way” to handle byelections close to general election years (Manhas will serve the balance of Blatherwick’s four-year term until the 2026 vote).
Stewart said previous byelections in Coquitlam have resulted in a 4.9 per cent turnout and a 7.5 per cent turnout; however, the latter had a referendum question attached to it, which he said drew a bigger response than the byelection itself.
Stewart suggested the provincial government changed the rules to prevent byelections from happening more than half way through a term — perhaps allowing the runner-up to take over the vacancy.
Coun. Dennis Marsden also said the byelection administration took away civic resources. “It is not an inconsequential task,” he said.
Last month, city council voted to forward a resolution to the Lower Mainland Local Government Association (LMLGA) annual meeting, held April 29 to May 1, 2025, to align byelection provisions in the School Act with those in the Local Government Act and allow for more flexibility.
Its resolution reads: “36 (3.1) In the case of a trustee election is required to be conducted by a municipality, the municipal council must appoint a chief election officer as soon as practicable after being notified under subsection 3(b).”
Marsden also suggested senior governments and political parties that are successful with their candidates at byelections should "pony up" to prevent municipal downloading.
Meanwhile, Coquitlam is also forwarding another resolution to the LMLGA meeting concerning mental health support for local elected officials.
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