Voters in Peachland appear to more interested in the upcoming civic elections than neighbouring communities to the north.

That is, if advance polls are any indication.

Wednesday was the first of two advance polling days leading up to the November 15 civic elections.

Peachland was the only community in the Central Okanagan which saw a rise in advance voter turnout compared to 2005.

A total of 155 voters took advantage of the advance poll in Peachland, compared with 141 in 2005.

Three years ago, 60 per cent of eligible Peachland voters went to the polls. This compares to about 33 per cent in Lake Country and 30 per cent in the City of Kelowna.

Approximately 45 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots in the first Westside Municipal election a year ago.

Advance polling numbers are down about 50 per cent in both Westside and Kelowna, with 528 casting votes in Westside Wednesday and 562 doing the same in Kelowna.

In Lake Country, 83 votes were cast Wednesday and while returning officer Hazel Christy is unsure of the 2005 numbers, they appear to be down from three years ago.

One of the reasons according to Christy is the fact the mayor and many ward councillors are already in by acclimation. The Fire Hall referendum is the real ballot draw.

A record 36 people are running for council seats in Kelowna and returning officer, Stephen Fleming, says he's heard from many constituents that they have not made up their minds.

"We'll see what the turnout is like on the second advance day November 12 but if this is any indication of general voting day, then yes, we won't make the 30 per cent," says Fleming.

"Last time, more people voted in the advance poll that 2002, but it didn't translate into a busier general election. There is not always a general correlation between advance polling turnout and general voting turnout."

One of the reasons for lower turnouts could boil down to less than spectacular races for mayor, or in the case of Lake Country, no race at all.

Peachland has three newcomers running to replace Graham Reid, who is not running for re-election.

In Westside, veteran Doug Findlater is seeking the mayor's chair against newcomer Peter Haslock while in Kelowna, Kim Ouellette is taking another run at incumbent mayor Sharon Shepherd. Ouellette received a little more than 100 votes in 2005.

Fleming believes the large number of candidates for council in Kelowna could be keeping people away initially as they try to learn more about the 36 candidates through all-candidates forums.

He says currently candidates for any position in the city need to pay a $100 deposit and get two people to nominate them in order to run for public office.

The deposit is the most a municipality can charge under the Local Government Act.

"There were changes to the Local Government Act where council could have changed that number to 25, under the assumption that if you can't get 25 people to nominate you, is it appropriate to run?"

Kelowna Council chose to keep the number at two.

In Westside, the municipal council there voted to increase the number of nominators to 25.

In 2007, 29 people ran for council or mayor, this year, that total is just 12.

One other theory for the low turnout is voter burnout.

The municipal election comes just weeks after a hotly contested federal election and days after the U.S. election.