Advance polling begins for NDP leadership race

Advance balloting for B.C.'s NDP leadership race has begun.

Party members could start casting their votes as of 9 a.m. Monday, leading up to the election on Sunday.

But a member of the party's provincial council predicts most people will hang on to their ballot until Sunday.

Kamloops, B.C., New Democrat Tom Friedman says if the advance voting option is used, party members will be locked out of any last-minute strategic balloting.

He believes many participants will wait to see if their first choice survives to a second or third ballot, then follow the lead of their candidate as he throws his support to a survivor.

Mike Farnworth, John Horgan, Adrian Dix and Dana Larsen are seeking the NDP's top job, and party officials expect results of the balloting should be available shortly after 6 p.m. on April 17.

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  British Columbia NDP leadership candidate Mike Farnworth, right, and former B.C. premier Mike Harcourt walk to a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., on Monday April 11, 2011. Harcourt endorsed Farnworth to become the new leader of the B.C. NDP party. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

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  British Columbia NDP leadership candidates Mike Farnworth, from left, Adrian Dix, John Horgan and Dana Larsen await the start of a taping of a television debate as Dix and Larsen get some final touch-ups in Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday April 9, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck