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Oak Bay sees steady stream of voters as polls close at 8 p.m.

6 councillors to elect
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Jessica Evans and Milo Fisher stop for a photo at the selfie wall at Monterey school after voting in the Oak Bay municipal election. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)

With three hours left in voting – polls close at 8 p.m. – residents waked, rode and drove up to the Monterey Middle School site Saturday afternoon.

“We’ve had a good day in Oak Bay we’ve had a steady turnout,” said Joanna Winter, chief election officer for the District of Oak Bay.

As they filtered out, voters voiced concern over housing, infrastructure, school programs such as music, and deer.

Jessica Evans was motivated by ensuring safe, inclusive schools for all kids of all abilities and genders. “And that those things aren’t up for debate,” she added.

Five incumbent councillors are in the running to be re-elected alongside four other candidates for six seats at the Oak Bay table. The nine candidates are Andrew Appleton, Hazel Braithwaite, Raymon Farmere, Cairine Green, Roxanne Helme, Esther Paterson, Carrie Smart, Lesley Watson and Eric Wood Zhelka.

Mayor Kevin Murdoch is acclaimed, garnered nearly 70 per cent of the vote in 2018 and running unopposed this election.

The lack of a mayoral race may mean a lower voter turnout than in 2018 when the eligible voter turnout was 53.6 per cent, a full 18 per cent higher than the average B.C. municipal turnout of 35.6 per cent.

READ MORE: Meet Your Candidates: What’s important to Oak Bay candidates?

In the Greater Victoria School District (SD61), there are 30 candidates vying for nine school trustee positions. This district covers a portion of View Royal, Esquimalt, Victoria, Oak Bay and a section of Saanich.

Candidates include Salvetina Agba, Natalie Baillaut, Cindy Bedi Ralph, Esther Callo, Angela Carmichael, Sacha Christensen, Matthew Cook, Mavis David, Nicole Duncan, Jennifer Foster, Derek Gagnon, Daphna Gelbart, Leslie-Anne Goodall, Karin Kwan, J. Charles Lamb, Piers MacDonald, Emily Mahbobi, Diane McNally, Kyle McStravick, Janice Novotill, Rob Paynter, Roberta Solvey, Tyson Strandlund, Jordan Watters, Ann Whiteaker, Michelle Wiboltt, Oliver Wu, Ali Zahra, Sasha Zhang and Judith Zulu.

READ MORE: It’s Election Day in Greater Victoria: Here’s what you need to know about school trustees Oak Bay residents can vote at Emmanuel Baptist Church, 2121 Cedar Hill Cross Rd. and Monterey Middle School, 851 Monterey Ave.

Learn more about how to vote here.

READ MORE: 2022 Election Coverage

What happens once polls close?

Once polls close at 8 p.m., the results will be tallied and released. Check out our website and Facebook page for full coverage of the results.


 

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