B’nai B’rith calls for B.C. to stop holding elections on Saturdays

A Jewish advocacy group wants B.C. to change the day of the week its elections are held on.

B’nai B’rith, which has described itself as Canada’s oldest independent Jewish Human Rights organization, says holding elections on a Saturday means observant Jews and people of other faiths, like Seventh-day Adventists, can’t cast their vote on that day.

“We’d like to see legislation adopted that would give a mandate to Elections BC for a day other than Saturday on the provincial level and which would move the municipal elections off the Saturday as well,” Marvin Rotrand with the organization told CityNews.

According to Elections BC, provincial elections are scheduled every four years on the third Saturday in October, per the B.C. Constitution Act.

Municipal elections in this province are also generally held on a Saturday, the most recent vote happening on Oct. 15.

“The 2020 Provincial General Election was the first in B.C. to be held on a Saturday, following legislative changes to the Constitution Act in the fall of 2017,” a statement from Elections BC reads.

“The decision on what day to hold a provincial election is a public policy decision that is up to the legislative assembly to decide. The Attorney General is responsible for the Constitution Act and Election Act, including legislative changes.”

Administrative considerations

The changes came after Elections BC provided input to the government, focused on administrative considerations around holding these votes. Elections BC says there are “considerable administrative benefits to holding an election on a Saturday, including using schools as voting places (while they are not in session), and greater availability of people to work as election officials on weekends.”

Elections BC says it met with members of the Jewish community in early 2020 to hear their concerns, and to “discuss voting opportunities.”

“At that meeting we agreed that we would collaborate in ensuring voting information was shared widely within the Jewish Community,” the agency adds.

But now, B’nai B’rith is urging the province to reconsider its changes, writing a letter to MLA Nathan Cullen, B.C.’s minister of Municipal Affairs, to look at alternatives.

“We’d like to see legislation adopted that would give a mandate to Elections BC for a day other than Saturday on a provincial level and which would move the municipal elections off the Saturday as well,” explained Rotrand, who adds the group is not suggesting any other day in particular.

He says the group has also written to municipal leaders to ask them to reconsider.

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In the Jewish faith, Saturday is known as the Sabbath, considered to be a “day of holiness and rest” observed by Jewish people from sunset Friday until nightfall the next day.

“We say there’s no public benefit provable by British Columbia as to why it has to have its elections on Saturdays. Now, Elections BC handles provincial elections and they make sure there are lots of advance voting days, particularly on non-weekends, and they assure that there’s voting by mail for everyone. Even so, there’s still a problem for some Jewish people voting,” Rotrand explained.

He says changing the day may even improve voter turnout figures.

Elections BC says it is “committed to making provincial elections as accessible as possible to all voters within the legislative framework,” adding “B.C.’s Election Act is the most accessible electoral legislation in Canada.”

It notes that voters who aren’t able to cast their ballot in-person on election day have other options, such as by mail or through advance voting days.

The next provincial election is set for Oct. 19, 2024 — a Saturday.