OneCity members in good standing who joined on or before April 10, 2026 are eligible to vote in the party’s City Council, School Board and Park Board nomination contests. Voting will be held primarily by electronic ballot and managed by voting systems provider, SimplyVoting. Members will be able to view the ballot in English, Tagalog, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.

The Council and School Board election will use a ranked ballot system (details available below). The Park Board election will be by member acclamation, with 50% +1 approval required to secure a seat. 

Eligible members will receive their electronic ballot the first minute of May 3, and voting will conclude at 11:59 pm on May 10. 

If you have previously unsubscribed from SimplyVoting, you must send an email from the affected email address to [email protected] so SimplyVoting can update the mailing list. 

Members who do not have an email address registered with OneCity will receive a mailed letter with your voter ID and password and voting instructions. You can use your voter ID and password to vote online, by phone, or at our in-person voting location (details below). The mailed letter includes translations in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and Tagalog. 

There will be three questions on the ballot: 

1. City Council Nomination: OneCity is nominating 5 City Council candidates, including Lucy Maloney, who was acclaimed by the membership in February. The four top-ranked candidates in this round of nominations will join Lucy to become OneCity Council candidates in the 2026 municipal election. Members are permitted to rank as many candidates as they would like, voting “1” for their top choice, “2” for their second choice, and so on. 
2. School Board Nomination: OneCity is nominating 5 School Board candidates. The five top-ranked candidates in this round of nominations will become OneCity School Board candidates in the 2026 municipal election. Members are permitted to rank as many candidates as they would like, voting “1” for their top choice, “2” for their second choice, and so on.  
3. Park Board Nomination: OneCity members are voting on whether or not to approve 3 Park Board candidates. For each candidate, vote YES or NO. If the candidate achieves 50% +1 YES votes from voting members, they are nominated in that race as a OneCity Park Board candidate for the 2026 municipal election.

The nomination winners will be announced to members and the public the morning of May 11. 

Voting assistance

Members may visit the Strathcona Community Centre Activity Room, 601 Keefer Street, from 5:30-7:00 pm on Tuesday, May 5, and 12:00-5:00 pm on Saturday, May 9 if you would prefer to vote in person. OneCity staff will be present to assist with voting. Strathcona Community Centre is wheelchair accessible. Please bring your voter ID and password from your letter or email to the voting place.

Voting by phone is also an option, and is managed by SimplyVoting. Details for voting by phone are provided on the ballot itself in the email or letter you will receive. You will need your voter ID and password from your letter or email. 

OneCity’s Ranked Ballot System for City Council and School Board

For members interested in the voting system used for the nomination, please read on for a more detailed explanation. 

To select our candidates for City Council and School Board, OneCity uses a ranked ballot, as part of a proportional electoral system. This voting system is used to ensure that OneCity’s candidates reflect the distribution of our members’ preferences to the greatest degree possible. The specific system OneCity uses is called “single-transferable vote.” STV is ideal for electing a group of candidates in which most voters see their preferences reflected – by “wasting” fewer votes than a “first-past-the-post” system (which is used in our provincial and federal elections). A proportional electoral system helps fulfill OneCity’s goal of creating a Vancouver for everyone.

On their ranked ballot, OneCity members can choose candidates in their order of preference. Voters can vote “1” for their top choice, “2” for their second choice, and so on. Voters can rank as many candidates as they want. Candidates need to receive a certain number of votes to win – this number is called the “quota,” which is roughly one seat’s share of the total vote.

To start with, votes are counted based on voters’ first preferences. If at least one candidate receives more votes than the quota in the first round, the person with the most votes secures their spot as a OneCity candidate.

The counting of votes proceeds in rounds (done automatically by the digital system we use). In each round, the voting system first looks for the candidate who has received the most votes above the quota, and they are elected. If they have more votes than they need (above the quota), the excess portion of these votes are transferred to the next choice on each ballot. After that is done, if there are still seats to fill in that round, the system then eliminates the candidate with the fewest votes and transfers those votes to the next choice on each ballot. This is repeated until all seats are assigned.  

This simple video shows how STV voting works in one jurisdiction: Voting in the Northern Ireland Assembly.