Advance voting begins in Surrey’s municipal election

Advance voting is now underway in Surrey, as voters prepare to choose who will fill 15 positions at city hall and on the school board, including the mayor, eight councillors, and six school trustees.

At the Fleetwood Community Centre advance voting station Wednesday, residents told CityNews they are looking to Surrey’s next elected leaders to tackle a range of concerns.

Safety concerns due to the ongoing extortion crisis, traffic, and property taxes were some of the issues cited.

Voters have plenty of choices in the race for mayor, with seven candidates running. Three of the candidates garnering a lot of attention are incumbent Mayor Brenda Locke, former mayor Doug McCallum, and two-term city councillor Linda Annis.

The three are making a number of major promises on issues ranging from public safety and taxes to transportation and city infrastructure.

Locke’s re-election platform includes a $1.4 billion investment plan across five priorities, with $600 million earmarked for recreation, culture, and community facilities, and $485 million for public safety and emergency services.

McCallum is promising to expand the SkyTrain to Newton, freeze property tax increases for four years, and introduce a zero-tolerance approach to criminal and extortion activity.

Annis, meanwhile, is promising to add 300 police officers over four years and create a police training centre aimed at speeding up recruitment.

Political scientist Hamish Telford says with several leading candidates offering voters similar priorities, the challenge may be distinguishing between them.

“I think it is going to play out with a deeply divided vote. We saw that the last time in Surrey,” Telford said.

“They are all pretty much saying the same thing.”

Gib van Ert, Surrey’s chief election officer, says the city has expanded the number of advance voting locations to meet demand.

“Surrey is one of the largest and fastest-growing municipalities in the province,” van Ert said.

“We have gone up from six advance locations in the 2022 election to 10 this time around, because there is demand for it. People want to vote in advance.”

More advance voting will take place at locations across Surrey on Oct. 10, 14, and 15. Residents can find voting locations and additional information on the City of Surrey’s website.