B.C. election: Advance polls open for final day

LANGLEY, B.C. -

Wednesday is the last day to vote early in B.C.’s provincial election.

Advance polls close at 8 p.m. after seeing record numbers of ballots cast over previous days.

Elections B.C. said the turnout is not surprising as advance voting has become increasingly popular in the past few elections.

“Oct. 10 was the highest turnout at an advanced voting day we’ve seen in a B.C. election, with 171,000 advanced votes cast that day. And then again, on Oct. 11, we broke a record with 155,000 cast,” said Andrew Watson, a spokesperson for Elections B.C.

Across the province, nearly 600,000 votes were cast in the first four days of advance polling. The five ridings with the highest turnout have all been on Vancouver Island.

Some political scientists suspect a shift in campaign tactics is contributing to the turnout.

“Especially for the two main sides, I think both of them are a little scared of each other and I think that has a way of drawing out more people,” said Dan Reeve, a political science professor at Camosun College.

During the last election, held amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, less than 54 per cent of registered voters cast ballots.

There are more than 300 advance voting places across the province open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Saturday, Oct. 19 is B.C.’s actual election day and the last opportunity for voters to cast their ballots.

With files from CTV Vancouver Island’s Anna McMilian

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