Chinese names on ballots debated
VANCOUVER — A school trustee candidate is calling foul after learning only one Vancouver candidate has been permitted to include Chinese characters on the ballot for the municipal election.
Sophia Woo, who has previously been a school trustee, said it is unfair.
When Brandon Yan, a council hopeful for OneCity, submitted his nomination documents, he included a trio of Chinese characters as part of his usual name. Yan was not the only candidate to request his characters appear on the ballot, but he is the only candidate who received approval from the city and its chief election officer.
Some candidates not of Chinese descent had requested Chinese characters on the ballot, but their requests were denied because they “are not the candidates’ usual name,” a city official said in a written statement.
The city also received requests from ethnic Chinese candidates, including Woo, to include their characters on the ballot. But those requests were denied because they came in after the Sept. 14 nomination deadline had passed and the candidates list had been made public, according to the city.
Woo and Ken Denike, both Coalition Vancouver candidates for school board, have filed a notice of civil claim in B.C. Supreme Court.
“What we’re asking for is fairness for all,” Woo said. “Nobody knew that we could do it [have Chinese characters].”
Woo and Denike’s claim asks the court to order either that Yan’s Chinese characters be removed from the ballot or all eligible candidates be allowed to include theirs as well.
Woo would prefer the latter. She said that when Chinese media report on her, they use her Chinese name rather than the English name that is to appear on the Oct. 20 election ballot. That will be confusing for some voters, she said. The city is standing by its decision that it is too late to make changes.
Yan is unhappy about being caught in the middle of the battle against the city’s decision.
“It’s frustrating to me as a candidate, especially as a first-time candidate who’s trying to run a campaign that’s about me as a renter trying to stay in this city, giving it my all, putting my heart into this platform and that we’re talking about a name on a ballot. A Chinese name on a ballot.
“I can’t speak for other peoples’ experiences, but for me when I went to the office, they were pretty clear that that’s what I could do.”
Gerald Baier, a politicalscience professor at the University of B.C., said the question of whether Chinese characters written on a ballot would offer a leg-up for a given candidate is almost an experiment for political science.
“I don’t know that there’s much evidence out there that would suggest one way or another how this might work, but I think the instinct is to say anything that can help you stand out on a ballot [might be helpful],” Baier said. “That all said, turnout is going to be so low, I expect, that who knows? The on-theground kind of campaign is going to be very important. It’s a bit like a student council election. If you have a big circle of friends, you can really tip an election that has low voter turnout.”
Kenneth Tung, a commentator at Fairchild Radio, said he did not think Chinese characters alone would make a big or significant difference at the polls.
“I would not measure a person and just looking at a logo of [their] name. I probably would look at the issues or policy that that person presents,” Tung said.
The Vancouver Charter allows candidates to be listed with any name they are commonly known as to ensure they are identifiable on the ballot, according to the statement from the city. Other examples of people using their usual name would be Rollergirl, who is running for mayor under that name this year or Audrey Siegl, who ran for council in 2014 and also listed her Indigenous name s«lemtYna:t.
Yan’s name on the candidate’s list reads: Yan, Brandon u_ıg,.
This year, names on the city’s election ballot will be listed in random rather than alphabetical order. A draw for the order is scheduled for Sept. 21.