Langley voted, but some neighbourhoods are more keen on municipal government than others.
With just 30 per cent of estimated eligible voters casting ballots, the Langley Advance took a look at where we cast our ballots this year.
Voting by neighbourhood:
• Aldergrove – 2,435 (Aldergrove Community Secondary, Parkside Centennial Elementary)
• Brookswood – 3,325 (George Preston Recreation Centre, Glenwood Elementary)
• Fort Langley – 1,809 (Fort Langley Elementary)
• Murrayville – 2,268 (James Hill Elementary)
• Rural areas – 2,640 (Coghlan Fundamental Elementary, D.W. Poppy Secondary, Wix-Brown Elementary)
• Walnut Grove – 4779 (Alex Hope, James Kennedy, and Dorothy Peacock Elementaries)
• Willoughby – 3,713 (R.C. Garnett and Lynn Fripps Elementaries)
Those numbers don’t include advance polls.
• Langley residents love early voting
This year, early voting more than doubled.
In 2014, 1,993 people cast their ballots in one of the several advance polls held in various locations around the Township. This year, that number hit 4,566.
In 2014, early voting accounted for 8.8 per cent of all ballots cast. In 2018, it was 17.73 per cent.
• Brookswood voting declined
In 2014, when the attempt to revise the Brookwood Official Community Plan had recently been voted down by council, voting was strong in that neighbourhood.
While Brookswood residents still came out in high numbers, they were off their 2014 peak. There were 972 ballots cast at Glenwood Elementary in 2018, down from 1,205 in 2014. At George Preston Rec Centre, numbers dropped to 1,608 in 2018 from 1,742 in 2014.
However, there’s no way to know if some of those voters weren’t simply taking part in advance polls. Early voting at George Preston was heavy, according to the Township’s chief election officer Bob Wilson.
• Willoughby still under-votes
When the Township last estimated Willoughby’s population several years ago, it was about 31,000 residents. That number has risen sharply as hundreds of homes have been built in the area.
Despite the big population increase, voting only rose slightly in 2018, and it remains below average for the Township as a whole.
Willoughby saw 3,713 residents cast ballots at its two polling places, up from 3,166 in 2014. However, it remains well behind Walnut Grove, which has an estimated population of just under 25,000 residents and which saw 4,779 residents cast a ballot.
The low per capita turnout came despite the fact that 208th Street and development in general were among the most talked about issues during the election.
Brookswood, with a population of about 13,300 people, cast almost as many votes (3,325 in 2018) as Willoughby.
• No neighbourhood votes like the Fort
No region holds a candle to Fort Langley. Based on the Township’s estimated population of 3,864 people, the 1,809 ballots cast mean about 46.8 per cent of Fort residents marked a ballot.
Compare that to the 25 per cent of Brookswood residents who cast a ballot at one of their local polls, or the 11.9 per cent who voted in Willoughby.
• Almost 700 people didn’t vote for a mayor
Out of 25,747 ballots cast in total, 676 didn’t pick Jack Froese, Anna Remenik, or Alex Joehl for mayor, leaving that part of the ballot blank. That makes 2.6 per cent of voters who didn’t like any of their choices for mayor.
• Local votes mattered to candidates
Some candidates had strong support in particular neighbourhoods.
That trend showed itself in the close battle for the last Township council seat – Margaret Kunst, who won, was separated from outgoing Coun. Angie Quaale by just 103 votes.
Quaale was stronger in Walnut Grove polling places, picking up 424 votes at Dorothy Peacock to Kunst’s 382, and 740 at James Kennedy to Kunst’s 665.
But Kunst was more popular in Aldergrove Secondary (551 votes to 499) at James Hill in Murrrayville (923 to 810 votes) and in Brookswood at the George Preston Rec Centre (821 votes to 655).