Advance poll turnout more than 3,000 so far

More than 3,000 Kelowna voters have already made their choice for mayor and council.

A first-ever staging of four advance polls on a Saturday before general voting day was a success, election officials say.

“We are really pleased with the overall numbers and feel like the Saturday advance option was well received by Kelowna residents,” says chief election officer Karen Needham.

On Saturday, 2,058 people voted at polls set up at Evangel Church, Parkinson Recreation Centre, Hollywood Education Centre and Watson Road Elementary School.

That was in addition to the 966 people who voted at an advance poll last Thursday.

Additional advance polls will be held from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Parkinson, City Hall, Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan.

Advance polls will also be held Thursday and Friday at Parkinson, also from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

General voting day, with 12 polling stations around Kelowna, is Saturday, with information on locations at kelowna.ca/election.

Residents of Kelowna can vote wherever they like, but they must bring two pieces of ID that proves residency and identity.

In 2014, about 29 per cent of eligible Kelowna voters cast a ballot in the civic election that saw Colin Basran defeat chief rival Sharon Shepherd for the mayoralty.

This year, Basran’s strongest challenge is coming from Tom Dyas, a former friend who says city hall lacks strong leadership with Basran in charge.

A total of 21 people are running for the eight council seats.