1996 Vancouver municipal election

1996 Vancouver municipal election

November 16, 1996 (1996-11-16)

11 seats in Vancouver City Council
  First party Second party Third party
 
COPE
VOICE
Leader Philip Owen Carmela Allevato Jonathan Baker
Party NPA COPE VOICE
Seats won 11 0 0
Seat change 1 1
Popular vote 50,969 26,143 10,703
Percentage 53.15% 27.26% 11.16%

Mayor before election

Philip Owen
NPA

Elected mayor

Philip Owen
NPA

The city of Vancouver, Canada, held municipal elections on November 16, 1996. Canadian citizens who were over 18 years of age at the time of the vote, and had been a resident of Vancouver for the previous 30 days and a resident of British Columbia for the previous six months, were able to vote for candidates in four races that were presented on one ballot. In addition, Canadian citizen non-resident property owners were eligible to vote.

The ballot elected one mayor, ten councillors, nine School Board trustees and seven Park Board commissioners. Each elector could vote for as many candidates as there were open seats (e.g., an elector could vote for ten or fewer councillors).

There was no fee associated with registering as a candidate at this time. Brian "Godzilla" Salmi, a freelance journalist for publications such as Terminal City, The Stranger, The National Post and The Georgia Straight, publicly offered to buy a pitcher of beer for anyone who ran for office, resulting in numerous joke-candidates appearing on the ballots that year.