Janice Morrison for Mayor Donate

How to vote

Nelson’s general voting day is Saturday, October 17, 2026. You can also vote early on Wednesday, October 7 or Wednesday, October 14.

When and where

  1. Wednesday, October 7Advance voting, 8:00 am to 8:00 pmCity Hall, 310 Ward Street, Council Chambers on the second floor
  2. Wednesday, October 14Advance voting, 8:00 am to 8:00 pmCity Hall, 310 Ward Street, Council Chambers on the second floor
  3. Saturday, October 17General voting day, 8:00 am to 8:00 pmPrestige Lakeside Resort & Convention Centre, 701 Lakeside Drive

Voters in Nelson elect one mayor and six councillors.

Special voting

Special voting is held only on general voting day, Saturday, October 17, at five facilities. It is for electors who are patients or residents there.

  1. 9:00 am to 10:00 amNelson Fairview Gardens904 Eleventh Street, Nelson
  2. 10:30 am to 11:30 amJubilee Manor501 West Richards Street, Nelson
  3. 12:30 pm to 2:00 pmMountain Lake Seniors Community908 Eleventh Street, Nelson
  4. 2:30 pm to 4:30 pmLake View Village1020 Seventh Street, Nelson
  5. 5:00 pm to 6:00 pmKootenay Lake District Hospital3 View Street, Nelson

Help at the voting place

  • If you can get to the voting place but can’t easily get inside, you can ask an election official to bring a ballot out to you. This is called curbside voting.
  • An election official, a friend or a relative can go with you to the ballot box and help you mark your ballot.
  • You can bring someone to translate for you.

Anyone who helps you must first sign a solemn declaration. Candidates, their representatives and their financial agents can’t help anyone vote.

For further information on these matters, the following persons may be contacted:

Who can vote

You can vote in Nelson as a resident if you:

  • are 18 or older on general voting day;
  • are a Canadian citizen;
  • have lived in British Columbia for at least six months right before you register; and
  • live in Nelson on the day you register.

If you don’t live in Nelson but own property here, you may be able to vote as a non-resident property elector. You must be 18 or older, a Canadian citizen and a resident of British Columbia for at least six months, and you must have owned the property for at least 30 days before you register. If a property has more than one owner, only one of them can vote for it, with the written consent of the majority of the owners.

You can vote only once in this election, even if you own more than one property.

Registering and ID

If you’re already on the list of registered voters, you don’t need ID to vote. Advance registration closed on August 25, 2026, but you can still register when you vote, on any of the three voting days.

To register when you vote, bring two pieces of ID that together show who you are and where you live. At least one must have your signature. If none of your ID shows your address, you can make a solemn declaration about where you live.

Accepted ID includes:

  • a driver’s licence;
  • a BC Identification (BCID) card (a BC Services Card combined with a driver’s licence counts as one piece);
  • a Certificate of Indian Status;
  • a citizenship or membership card issued by an Indigenous governing body;
  • a utility bill that shows your home address; or
  • a credit or debit card.

Property owners voting as non-resident property electors also need proof that they own the property, such as the title certificate.

Questions

The City of Nelson runs the election. For questions about voting, contact the City’s Chief Election Officer at elections@nelson.ca.

Checked September 25, 2026 against the City of Nelson’s 2026 election page and election questions, and the Province of BC’s Voter’s Guide to Local Elections in B.C. 2026 (PDF). If anything here differs from the City’s own information, the City is right.