The cost to hold an election is rising, according to the regional district that runs almost all of them in the Southern Gulf Islands — and budgeting for healthy democracy means staff and officials need to expect the unexpected.
There’s no statutory requirement for the Capital Regional District (CRD) to maintain voter lists and administer elections on behalf the Islands Trust, local school districts or anyone else apart from its specific jurisdiction; it’s simply been a longstanding arrangement that has benefited those smaller bodies — giving them the opportunity to take advantage of economies of scale — and it’s helped the CRD recover some of its costs.
But if there’s a monetary risk to that relationship, it’s taken on entirely by the CRD. Corporate services general manager Kristen Morley told directors that running an election — or not — for a school district or the Islands Trust doesn’t necessarily make a large difference in the regional district’s costs; where it does have an effect is in its ability to get any of that money back.
“We have polling stations, we have a certain amount of staffing, we have voting machines and we have ballots,” said Morley, answering a question from electoral area directors in advance of the CRD board’s meeting Wednesday, Oct. 29.
“Those are required, set expenses. If we share those with the Islands Trust, then we’re able to recover back a portion of those expenses; but if Islands Trust for whatever reason didn’t want to, we would still have the same fixed costs.”
The draft budget, for example, plans to recover almost 30 per cent of the CRD’s operating cost for all its 2026 elections from the Islands Trust — essentially a nearly $82,000 bill it expects to send after candidates are seated and the signs come down.
Staff plan for various possibilities, Morley said, such as higher or lower expenditures from more or fewer candidates standing for election — or more significantly, an acclamation, where there would be no election race to run at all.
Referendums can also affect the CRD’s ability to recover costs, she added. There were two in the last election — the successful establishment of Salt Spring’s Local Community Commission, and a transportation service for the Southern Gulf Islands that failed by a handful of votes. Those both helped offset the regional district’s spending that election cycle.
And the baseline price of local nuts-and-bolts democracy is going up; Morley said the cost of voting machines has doubled since the last election — “that’s going to cost us an extra $30,000 in 2026,” she said, noting that was an estimate as those contracts are not yet firm — and labour costs are up $2 per hour, with an additional increase likely by June.
But Morley said staff’s biggest concerns remained around cost recovery — and having to plan for unforeseen post-election possibilities.
“Let’s say we have a very close result — and this has happened in the past — where we have a two or three vote difference,” said Morley.
“If somebody wants to do a judicial recount, we need to have enough in the reserve [fund] to be able to cover that.”
And there’s always the chance the CRD may have to put on a by-election, Morley said — if someone decides not to accept the role they were elected for, or were somehow unable to take the position.
“We don’t have a contract with the Islands Trust, and we don’t know if they’re going to want the same level of assistance in this or any subsequent elections as they have in the past,” said Morley. “The same goes for school districts.”
Less than 15 per cent of the 2026 election budget is directly addressed through tax requisition, according to the draft document, with slightly more than half — 55 per cent — covered by transfer from operating reserve funding.