15 Vancouver candidates not entitled to use ‘special characters’ on ballots: court application

The civic election is exactly a month away but the first battle of the campaign could be Thursday in BC Supreme Court.

Vancouver’s chief election officer has filed a court application seeking to declare that 15 candidates are not entitled to use “special” characters — like Chinese, Persian, and other non-Latin characters — in their names on the ballot.

They didn’t use them when they ran last time, so the election officer says they shouldn’t be able to this time.

But one candidate isn’t impressed.

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Suzie Mah, who is running for the school board as part of the COPE slate, says her Chinese name is part of her identity.

“On Tuesday evening, I was delivered a copy of an application filed with the Provincial Court pursuant to section 45.2 of the Vancouver Charter seeking a declaration that I am not entitled to have my usual name on the ballot for the upcoming civic election,” she said in a statement Wednesday.

“My initial response after reading the application was one of shock and disbelief. I was given an English name at birth which appears on my birth certificate and my parents, like many Chinese parents of the time, also gave me a Chinese name. My grandparents, my parents, family, and extended family and parents’ friends all know me by my Chinese name. As a teacher union leader, I was interviewed by the Chinese media and my Chinese name has always been used in print form, on the air, and on television. My Chinese name is part of my identity. This puts into question the meaning of ‘usual name.'”

Mah points out that another candidate, Brandon Yan, who ran in 2018 was allowed to use his Chinese name on the ballot.

She goes on to say that the chief election officer was quoted in an article from that year as saying a “usual name” is one that a “person goes by as well.”

Mah says she is currently seeking legal advice.

Other respondents named in the court documents are the Non-Partisan Association’s mayoral candidate Fred Harding, incumbent NPA councillor Melissa De Genova, and veteran Vision Vancouver school trustee Allan Wong.