Voters Lists for Local Governments

Under section 76 of the Local Government Act, local governments may use the Provincial Voters List as their register of resident electors.

Requesting the voters list

Local governments may access the Provincial Voters List by submitting a privacy policy and Provincial Voters List Request Form (259) to voterservices@elections.bc.ca.

Elections BC prepares voters lists for local governments at the end of each month. These lists are prepared using boundaries of any Regional Districts, Municipalities and First Nations reserves that make up the administrative area for your electoral event.

In some cases, we may need to use the electoral district and voting area boundaries that correspond to the local government jurisdiction instead. In those cases, where a voting area splits a municipal boundary, Elections BC provides the entire voting area. It is the local government’s responsibility to ensure their register of resident electors only contains electors within their jurisdiction.

If you need assistance, contact our office at voterservices@elections.bc.ca or 250-356-9325. After receiving the request, Elections BC will send a detailed email with further instructions.

Updating the voters list

Local governments may use Elections BC’s Application for Registration as a Local Government Resident Elector (200M) to register and update voters, and the Application to Remove a Registered Voter from the Provincial Voters List (200R) to mark voters as deceased or for other removal requests. Once completed, these forms must be sent by courier to Elections BC Voter Services using our shipping label.

Registering to vote in a local election

Before a local election begins, voters may register or update their registration on the Provincial Voters List through our Online Voter Registration system. Contact your local government for registration deadlines.

Future Voters and General Local Elections

Anyone who is 16 or 17 years old, a resident of B.C., and a Canadian citizen can sign up for the List of Future Voters. Future voters are automatically registered on the Provincial Voters List once they turn 18, improving the quality of the voters lists used for local government elections. However, not every future voter eligible to participate in your election will appear on your voters list extract.

The Election Act prohibits the Chief Electoral Officer from sharing the List of Future Voters. A future voter must have turned 18 and be registered on the Provincial Voters List to be included in your voters list extract. For example, any future voter turning 18 between your final voters list request and General Voting Day will not be included on your list. Instead, they may register during your election proceedings using a registration form (200M).