Voter turn-out disappoints

One city councillor will make it his mission to get more people out to vote in the next municipal election.

One city councillor will make it his mission to get more people out to vote in the next municipal election.

Coun. Ken Jamieson is not pleased with a 38 (37.95) per cent voter turnout in Salmon Arm and wants more people to be engaged in the process.

“I don’t know what kind of word I’d use to describe that (the turnout), but it’s not satisfactory in my opinion… I look forward to the next round of discussions over the next couple of years to see if I can improve that.”

Coun. Alan Harrison suggested with a smile that council will have to think up a big controversy.

“That’s the way to up the numbers.”

In terms of the region, Civic Info BC lists Revelstoke as tops in voter turnout with 53.73 per cent, Chase was next with 47.1 per cent, followed by Sicamous with 40.12 per cent. Enderby was just slightly higher than Salmon Arm with 38.86 per cent. Next came Kamloops with 33.14 per cent, Vernon with 30.1 per cent and Kelowna with 29.96 per cent.

Salmon Arm mayor and council thanked city staff for doing a good job in making the local polling stations run smoothly.

“I did hear compliments, how staff were opening the door to them, how well it was done,” said Mayor Nancy Cooper.

 

Salmon Arm Observer