Vancouver election officials sue three candidates over Chinese-character names on ballot
The city's chief election officer filed court applications challenging whether Iona Bonamis, Lenny Zhou, and Christopher Lee can use their birth names alongside English ones.
The day's top stories, food & events — every morning at 7. Unsubscribe anytime.
Vancouver's chief election officer Jason Twa filed applications in B.C. Provincial Court this week seeking a ruling on whether three candidates can list their Chinese names as their "usual name" on ballots for the October 17 civic election.
Iona Bonamis, running for Vancouver City Council with OneCity Vancouver, wants both her English name and her birth name, To Sie Wing, on the ballot. Lenny Zhou, running for council with ABC Vancouver, wants to use both Zhou Na (Chinese characters) and Lenny Zhou. Christopher Lee, OneCity's school board candidate, was served legal papers Monday as a respondent in the challenge.
Bonamis said she was told at the time of filing that the chief election officer would likely legally challenge her usual name. Zhou submitted his nomination papers at Friday's deadline and was similarly informed of the forthcoming challenge. Under the Vancouver Charter, nomination papers must include "the usual name of the person nominated, if the full name of the person is different from the name the person usually uses."
Both candidates say the Chinese names they're fighting for are not campaign inventions but lifelong identifiers. "They are arguing my Chinese name is not part of my usual name," Bonamis told the Vancouver Sun. "This is a name that I have been given by my parents. I've used it throughout my life and my relatives, my family and many people in the Chinese community, that's how they refer to me. I also use it professionally at work and all my social media accounts. I don't understand why they think it's not part of my usual name."
Zhou echoed the point: "My English name is Lenny Zhou. My Chinese name is Zhou Na. That was the name my parents gave to me at birth. This is not a name I invented for the campaign. This is the name I've already been using for 40 years, and it's the name people already know me by."
Of 123 candidates for council, park board and school board published on the City of Vancouver website, seven have included a Chinese name. Bonamis said four candidates with combined English and Chinese character usual names were already accepted by the chief election officer, raising questions about why her and Zhou's applications are being challenged.
This is not the first time. A month before the 2022 municipal election, the previous chief election officer asked provincial court to rule on usual names provided by 15 candidates, including Bonamis. That judge adjourned before making a decision, but all 15 candidates were ultimately able to have their nominated usual names on the 2022 ballot. In 2024, provincial court ruled the Vancouver Charter does not provide the court a right to adjudicate challenges made by the chief election officer around what names appear on ballots—a precedent that may affect how this current case proceeds.
If the court rules against these candidates, will the four others whose Chinese names were already accepted be required to remove them before the October 17 election?
What specific policy or legal guidance is the chief election officer using to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable Chinese names?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
The facts
When is the Vancouver civic election?
The election is scheduled for October 17, 2026.
How many candidates included a Chinese name on their nomination?
Seven of the 123 candidates for council, park board, and school board published on the City of Vancouver website included a Chinese name.
What happened in the 2022 dispute over candidate names?
The previous chief election officer asked provincial court to rule on usual names from 15 candidates, including Iona Bonamis. The judge adjourned without deciding, but all 15 candidates were ultimately allowed to use their nominated usual names on the 2022 ballot.
