Three local candidates for civic office have been disqualified from running in the 2026 race after failing to file their campaign finance disclosures with Elections BC.

91原创 City council candidate Cherise Okeymow, 91原创 Township candidate Carey Poitras, and 91原创 school board candidate Stacey Wakelin were all listed by Elections BC in a province-wide list released this week.

Candidates who run in local elections had to file financial disclosure statements, about their donations and election spending, with Elections B.C. by Jan. 13.

A late filing deadline for those who missed the first date was Feb. 13, and filing that late required paying a $500 fee.

Those candidates who have failed to file on time and then missed the late deadline are barred from running for local office until after the 2026 local elections.

The 91原创 Advance Times reached out to all three candidates for comment.

鈥淚 actually did file, but it was essentially a day late [for the first deadline],鈥� Wakelin said in an email. 鈥淭here was a miscommunication between my financial agent and myself, which led to the late filing. I was told I鈥檇 have to pay $500 as a late fee essentially. I have no plans on running again so I asked if I could just be disqualified instead and owe nothing.鈥�

She shared an email from Elections BC showing she had just missed the January filing deadline.

Poitras also responded to the Advance Times, and said that the impact of personal issues had caused her to unfortunately miss the filing deadline.

There were 50 candidates on the list of those disqualified this year, from Abbotsford to Zeballos. The candidates disqualified had been running for everything from municipal council positions to spots on school boards, regional districts, and the Cultus Lake Park Board.

That number is a big increase from previous civic elections, according to Elections BC.

In 2018, 17 candidates were disqualified, and in 2014, it was 15.

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