Advance voting set to break city record

Advance voting in Brandon has increased to levels not seen in 12 years — with two days of voting already producing nearly as many ballots as were cast during all three days of advance voting in 2014.

A total of 1,325 people voted in advance polls for mayor, ward councillor and school board trustees on Oct. 14 and 17, senior election official Heather Ewasiuk said.

The current total is 141 votes short of the 1,466 recorded during the three advance-voting days in 2014, the highest total Ewasiuk said Brandon has recorded.

The final day for advance voting is scheduled for Thursday at city hall.

“I think we will have more. Obviously, I’m expecting probably close to 1,800 voters,” Ewasiuk told the Sun Monday afternoon.

If that projection holds, this year’s advance turnout would surpass the previous record by more than 300 votes.

The 2026 turnout already far exceeds the number in the 2022 municipal election, when only 376 people voted during three days of advance voting.

“We had a dismal turnout last time,” Ewasiuk said.

Advance voting in 2018 attracted 655 voters over three days, while 2010 recorded 937 voters over two days.

The 1,325 ballots cast so far are spread across all 10 wards. Ward 8 recorded the highest number of votes at 202, followed by Ward 7 with 175 and Ward 10 with 151. Ward 5 had 147, while the other six wards shared 650 votes.

Ewasiuk said the distribution is generally consistent with previous elections.

There are several factors behind the “strong” turnout.

“We have two solid candidates for the mayoral race, which usually encourages people to get out,” she said.

Ewasiuk said fewer positions have been filled by acclamation this time. In other years, the city had four or five seats that were decided by acclamation.

“People just seem to be a little more interested in the politics of the day. People are becoming more interested. I guess engaged is the word to use,” she said.

The mayoral contest is a major factor, Brandon University political science chair Kelly Saunders said.

“When we see that kind of a turnout for advance polls, it means that people are interested and engaged, right, and making the time and the effort to get to the polls,” Saunders told the Sun on Monday.

“We’ve got two very strong, well-known candidates that are running for mayor, and so that automatically is going to create some buzz and excitement, and pique voters’ interest.”

Interest appears to extend beyond the mayoral race, with all but one council ward contested.

“The more that we see people wanting to step up and put their names forward, the more that resonates with voters,” Saunders said. “And it shows that voters are paying attention to the selection.”

The Brandon School Division trustee election may also be contributing to the increase, Saunders said, particularly because of contentious issues facing school boards.

“Issues around residential school denialism, parental rights and the banning of books in schools have really shone a spotlight on the importance of school board elections and making sure that voters understand where the candidates are coming from, what their positions are on some of these issues,” she said.

Ewasiuk said the city’s efforts to reach voters may also have helped.

“We’ve used social media quite a bit. We’ve done some of the digital signs in town, and radio advertising.”

She said those efforts may have helped reach younger voters and a broader demographic.

Media coverage might also be a factor, she added.

“The media has been very, very good about getting out the message that the election is on and providing good coverage.”

The voting process itself has also generated positive feedback.

Ewasiuk said voters have appreciated the return of vote tabulators after the machines were not used in 2022 because of COVID-related supply issues.

“This is actually the fourth election that we’ve used the vote tabulators,” she said.

The machines allow voters to correct certain errors before their ballots are counted.

“If somebody has undervoted — maybe they’ve only voted for three or four trustees, for example, instead of up to eight — it gives them an opportunity to fix that,” Ewasiuk said.

Voters can also leave the ballot unchanged if that is their intention, she said.

Advance voting has not been without challenges. Ewasiuk said a shift change on Saturday resulted in a significant rush.

“We had a large amount of people come in after a shift change, and so it took a while for them to get through the line,” she said.

Still, she said voters remained patient.

Regarding lessons learned, the electoral official said the organization is considering a few changes in the next general elections.

“We are looking at possibly changing maybe the locations to bigger venues to accommodate more people,” Ewasiuk said, noting that “there’s also an expense involved with that.”

For voters who discover they are not on the preliminary voters list, Ewasiuk said there is still a way to cast a ballot.

“It doesn’t mean that they can’t vote,” she said. “It just means that they would have to sign what we call an oath of the voter.”

» aodutola@brandonsun.com

» X: @AbiolaOdutola