Not that most PT readers need to be reminded, but you can help. From the Better Transit & Transportation Coalition:
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Spread the word:
- The latest results are in and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Turnout for the Metro Vancouver Transportation and Transit plebiscite is already exceeding many people’s expectations and we have to assume that, if YES is the right answer (and it is!), we will need every last vote in the mail by May 22, 2015.
- Early returns – and early assumptions – might have generated a bit of complacency. But we YES voters are motivated – and in a mail-in vote with a predicted small turnout, that could make all the difference.
- According to counts that Elections BC reported last week, voting in many jurisdictions has already broken through the turnout levels from the last municipal election – and that with a month left to go. And while very early returns showed the biggest batch of votes coming from Vancouver and Surrey (where voters are looking forward to new rapid transit lines), that biggest turnout reported in the last results has been registered in Delta (33.7% vs. the 30% turnout in the last municipal election). In Coquitlam, where the last council vote brought out just 26%, the plebiscite has already attracted 30.8%. Similar “records” have already been broken in North Vancouver District (23% vs. 29% in the plebiscite) and North Van City (28% vs. 33% in the plebiscite.
- Meanwhile, Vancouver, which recorded a turnout in the last election of 43%, has so far registered ballots from only 29.5% of plebiscite voters.
There are two important takeaways here for your members/supporters.
- First, these results are still very preliminary and somewhat random. Elections BC is opening ballots as they come in, sometimes in big batches from one area or another. No result is really important other than the one recorded after the vote closes on May 29, 2015.
- Second, we need more YES votes! Clearly, people are voting in unexpected numbers. If that doesn’t – so far – include you, please, find your ballot, fill it out and get it into the mail. And if you’ve lost your ballot or never received one, call Elections BC, at 1-800-661-8683, email electionsbc@elections.bc.ca, or go to any of nine new Plebiscite services offices, the locations of which can be found here:http://www.elections.bc.ca/plebiscite/where.html.
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Check out the News page on our stellar Better Transit & Transportation Coalition website. Then share our stories far and wide.
Like us on Facebook – we have a lively community on Facebook that is sharing things all over the internets.
Tweet! Share your views, set the record straight, tell your followers how you feel about the Referendum, and how they can help support the YES campaign. We are on twitter@voteyestransit – include us in your tweets and we’ll retweet them and push out your content. Good hashtags to use are #transitreferendum, #cutcongestion, #yes4transit, #vanpoli, #bcpoli, and your home city (#newwest, for instance).
Share your stories with others – tell everyone what you and your members are doing to encourage people to Vote YES!
Share your stories with us – tell us what you’ve heard about why people are looking at the status quo and thinking it’s time to vote Yes!
Tell us what your organization is doing to spread the word – and we’ll help spread your word!
Send your stories to: voteyes@bettertransit.info
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And if you really want to make a personal commitment:
Join other volunteers on Saturday, May 9 in one super canvassing effort to remind residents to register and vote in the plebiscite.
On May 9, volunteers will gather at the Referendum Secretariat office in Vancouver for a bit of canvass training. Then, they’ll head out in teams to give voting information to residents. Feel free to invite family and friends to join the fun!
Super Saturday schedule
- 11 am – Meet at Referendum Secretariat office (450 West Broadway, Vancouver)
- 11 a.m. to 12 pm – Registration, orientation and training
- 12 to 3:30 pm – Canvass assigned routes in teams
- 4 pm – Meet back at 450 West Broadway
By Tuesday, May 5, make sure to RSVP for Super Saturday (or other volunteer opportunities).
“Turnout for the Metro Vancouver Transportation and Transit plebiscite is already exceeding many people’s expectations”
I keep hearing only a third of people have bothered to vote at most.
Sent from Windows Mail
You are misleading your readers. A “NO” vote is not a vote for the status quo; it is a vote for change in the accountability of government spending. “NO” voters do not deny that transportation improvements are needed; they simply are fed up with throwing good money after bad to Translink and City general coffers with no accountability for the where and how their tax dollars are spent. Municipalities and provinces cannot continue to tax, tax, tax its citizens to pay for projects. The allocation and reallocation of current funding is what is needed, and the public has finally realized this.
That may be what a no vote means to you, but what evidence do you have to suggest it will be interpreted that way by the provincial government?
Especially seeing as Minister Stone is on record as saying it is not about that and will not result in changes at translink.
Oh, didn’t think people were still talking about the vote; it was no before it even started. Some yes-supporters appear so delusional – that yes is such an elixire of solutions – they can be led to believe it can solve pick-pocketing and cure bed-wetting. Sad, really.