ABC Vancouver city councillor Lenny Zhou is among seven candidates in the Oct. 17 municipal election hoping to be allowed to include their Chinese names alongside their English names on the ballot.

Zhou could learn his fate Wednesday at a B.C. Provincial Court hearing.

“Zhou Nan is the name my parents gave me when I was born,” he told Business in Vancouver.

“That’s the name I’ve been using for more than 40 years. I use it in my social media, in my videos, media interviews, even in my email signature. Every piece of public communication in the Chinese community, I use my Chinese name and also use my English name.”

Vancouver Charter

Last week, Zhou filed his nomination papers to seek a second term on council. At the time, he said he was told by chief election officer Jason Twa that he would be challenging Zhou’s request for his Chinese name to be included on the ballot.

The city’s communications department confirmed in an email Sept. 11 that Twa, who also serves as Vancouver’s city clerk, was to file an application in B.C. Provincial Court. BIV confirmed the application has been filed and a hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at the Robson Square provincial court.

Twa is bringing the application forward under the Local Government Act, according to the online court registry.

Under the Vancouver Charter, candidates can choose to have their “usual name” printed on the ballot instead of their full name. A voter, another candidate, or the chief election officer can challenge this if they believe the name entered is not the candidate’s usual name as contemplated by the charter.

“I respect the chief election officer has a job to do,” Zhou said. “I 100 per cent understand he also wants some clarity on this provision, on this issue, because it happened already last time [in 2022]. I completely understand. So he has all the rights to do that.”

OneCity Vancouver

The other six candidates seeking to include their Chinese names on the ballot are Iona Bonamis (OneCity Vancouver), Christopher Lee (OneCity), Lorraine Lowe (ABC), Shirley Sio (ABC), Alfred Chien (ABC) and Chris Qiu (ABC).

OneCity issued a news release last Friday expressing concerns that candidates Bonamis and Lee wouldn’t be able to have their full English and Chinese names on the ballot.

“Telling me to pick one half of myself to run for office is forcing me, and candidates like me, to show up to public life as only part of ourselves,” Bonamis said. “This is a ridiculous proposition in a city where nearly one in five residents is of Chinese descent.”

She pointed out the city’s election office unsuccessfully challenged her name in 2022 and former council candidate Brandon Yan’s name in 2018. In 2022, 15 candidates—most of whom were running with the NPA—included their Chinese, Vietnamese or Persian names next to their English name.

Zhou chose not to add his Chinese name to the ballot in 2022.

“It was just a personal decision,” he said. “It was my first time running. I didn’t know all those details. I didn’t know I could put a Chinese name on the ballot in 2022. I’ve been doing a lot of reflection in the past four years and this time I will fight for that because that’s my real name.”

Of the 131 candidates who filed nomination papers by the Sept. 11 deadline, several—including Mayor Ken Sim and COPE school trustee Suzie Mah—have not requested their Chinese name be added to the ballot.

Random draw Sept. 18

In the 2022 election, some non-Chinese candidates—including NPA mayoral candidate Fred Harding along with party colleagues Melissa De Genova and Ken Charko—had the Chinese spellings of their names added to the ballot.

None of the NPA’s candidates were elected in 2022.

The list of candidates in the 2026 race is subject to change until Sept. 18 at 4 p.m., the deadline for candidate nomination challenges, candidate withdrawals and withdrawal of candidate endorsements by political parties.

The election office will then determine the order of candidates’ names on the ballot by random draw on Sept. 18 at 5 p.m. at city hall.

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