# Saanich voters reject merger with Victoria in preliminary ballot > In preliminary results from Saanich’s October 17 local election, 24,663 voters answered no and 11,626 answered yes to an informal question on merging the municipality with Victoria. The district reported shares of 67.96% no and 32.04% yes. - Canonical URL: https://newsverum.com/en/news/saanich-election-no-vote-against-municipal-merger-preliminary-2026 - Publisher: Newsverum - Section: Politics - Country: Canada - Published: 2026-10-18T23:00:20+00:00 - Updated: 2026-10-18T23:00:20+00:00 - Event / data period: 2026-10-17 - Other editions: [Türkçe](https://newsverum.com/tr/news/saanich-election-no-vote-against-municipal-merger-preliminary-2026.md), [العربية](https://newsverum.com/ar/news/saanich-election-no-vote-against-municipal-merger-preliminary-2026.md), [Français](https://newsverum.com/fr/news/saanich-election-no-vote-against-municipal-merger-preliminary-2026.md), [Español](https://newsverum.com/es/news/saanich-election-no-vote-against-municipal-merger-preliminary-2026.md), [Deutsch](https://newsverum.com/de/news/saanich-election-no-vote-against-municipal-merger-preliminary-2026.md), [Português](https://newsverum.com/pt/news/saanich-election-no-vote-against-municipal-merger-preliminary-2026.md) The question was an informal measure of public opinion, not a binding referendum. Saanich also reported mayoral candidate Rishi Sharma first with 17,157 votes, or 45.31%, and said official results were expected by October 21. Turnout was reported as 38,299 ballots, representing 42.74% of eligible voters. The district listed 27,975 ballots (31.22%) in 2022 and 32,538 (38.26%) in 2018; the 2026 figures were preliminary. ## Data ### Results reported by the source Preliminary counts and shares for Saanich’s informal question about merging with Victoria. Methodology: Values are transcribed from the official primary source. Results described as preliminary by the source are not treated as certified. | Response | Votes (count) | Share of votes (%) | |---|---|---| | No | 24663 | 67.96 | | Yes | 11626 | 32.04 | Sources: · Download data: [JSON](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/saanich-election-no-vote-against-municipal-merger-preliminary-2026/data/saanich-merger-question-vote?lang=en&format=json) · [CSV](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/saanich-election-no-vote-against-municipal-merger-preliminary-2026/data/saanich-merger-question-vote?lang=en&format=csv) ## Sources - [District of Saanich]() (Source checked: 2026-10-19; Published: 2026-10-18) --- Cite the canonical URL above. [Editorial standards and corrections](https://newsverum.com/en/editorial)