How the Richmond ballot works in 2026

You may mark up to eight councillors, not one

Richmond elects councillors at large — there are no wards. All 55 council candidates appear in one list and every voter may mark up to eight of them. Marking only one or two is allowed and is sometimes deliberate, but it is often accidental: voters who treat it like a provincial or federal ballot give away seven of their eight choices.

Marking too many spoils that race — and only that race

If you mark nine or more names for council, the council portion of your ballot cannot be counted. Your mayor and school trustee choices on the same sheet still count. The reverse is also true: an error in the trustee race does not touch your council or mayor votes.

You do not have to fill every space

An under-voted ballot is valid. If you only know four council candidates you are content with, mark four. Nothing is added or inferred, and the unused choices simply go unrecorded.

You may vote across organizations

Slate names print beside candidates, but nothing binds them together on your ballot. A ballot with candidates from four different organizations is as valid as a straight slate vote. See what each organization is.

There is no ranking and no second choice

Richmond uses first-past-the-post in all three races. The top eight council candidates by raw vote count are elected; there is no ranked ballot, no transfer and no runoff.

Advance voting runs October 3, October 7, October 8, October 9, October 10, 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. General voting day is October 17, 2026, 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.