Vancouver candidates allowed to have names on ballots in non-Latin script

Candidatesin Vancouver's upcoming civic election will be allowed to have their names written inChinese or Persian scripton the ballot after a judge adjourned an application by the city's election officer, which would have disallowed names in non-Latin characters.

"Today's Provincial Court Judge ruling means the Vancouver Election will proceed with the names of the 15 candidates as submitted in their nomination documents," the city said in a statement.

Judge James Winghamruled it would be "unfair'' to proceed with theapplication under the strict timeline set out in the Vancouver Charter and adjourned the hearing to a laterdate, sometime after the municipal elections.

"We're really happy to see that the Chinese names will remain on the ballot because the judge saw the issues asso complex, so complicated there is no way a ruling could happen today," Non-Partisan Association's mayoral candidate Fred Harding said Friday.

Vancouver's Chief Election Officer, Rosemary Hagiwara, filed an application in provincial court on Tuesday to disallow Chinese and Persian characters being used by 15 candidates.

The application includedrespondents such as the Non-Partisan Association's mayoral candidate Fred Harding (), incumbent NPA councillor Melissa De Genova(), and veteran Vision Vancouver school board trustee Allan Wong ().

It saidall of the respondents submitted their "usual name"to be used on the ballot papers in both Latin characters and either Chinese or Persian.

Ten of the submissions were from the NPA, two from Vision Vancouver, and one each from Forward Together, COPE and OneCity Vancouver.

The case pitted candidates arguing that non-Latin character names are essential for connecting with voters against allegations of cultural appropriation.

Chief Election Officer Rosemary Hagiwara arguedthat none of the respondents who have previously stood for municipal election used non-Latin versions of their names in earlier nomination papers.

Harding said ahead ofthe ruling that he's had hisChinese name for many years because half of his family on his wife's side are Chinese.

Hagiwara's affidavit said that when Harding initially submitted his nomination on Sept. 6, he did not include Chinese characters in his usual name, but three days later, he revised his nomination to add them.

She also said Harding did not include Chinese characters when he ran for mayor in 2018.

Vision Vancouver saidin a statement prior to the ruling that Wong and council candidate Honieh Barzegari( ) were dismayed by the possibility that their "unique and usual names"printed in non-Latin characters would be removed from ballot papers.

But the party also accused other candidates of "cultural appropriation"by adopting Chinese namesto seek an unfair advantage at the polls.

Future elections uncertain

COPE school board candidate Suzie Mah() said she is happy she'll be able to use her Chinese name on the ballot.

"I was born with a Chinese name, it is a usual name that I use, and I was very shocked to find out that this would have been challenged," she said.

Mah added that it's unclear whether non-Latin versions of names will be allowedon future ballots.

"This case is going to continue and go forward, and I believe that we do need a resolution to this, particularly for the next election," she said.

Hagiwara said in her affidavit that she was not aware of any candidate seeking to use non-Latin characters on ballot papers before 2014.Only one candidate in each of the 2014 and 2018 polls had used non-Latin characters on the ballot, she said.

In the last municipal elections in 2018, the City of Vancouver allowed only OneCity councillor candidate Brandon Yan () to use his Chinese name on ballots while denying other candidates' requests to do the same. The city's decision led to a legal challenge from school trustee candidates Sophie Woo and Ken Denike.