B.C. election: Final vote count begins Friday, but expected to take several days

Despite being deluged by tens of thousands of mail-in and absentee ballots during the recent provincial vote, Elections BC says the final count of all votes should begin on schedule.

A statement from Elections BC says final count will start Nov. 6 and is expected to take three days.

Officials said earlier that sorting and certifying the large number of mail-in ballots had the potential to delay the final count.

Once the final count is complete Elections BC says it will have an official total of all mail-in ballots -- which surged because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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  In this photo illustration, a provincial election mail-in ballot sealed in an Elections B.C. return envelope is seen before being deposited in a Canada Post mailbox, in Richmond, B.C., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. The final result of British Columbia's provincial election won't be known for at least two weeks because more than 700-thousand mail-in ballots have to be counted by hand. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck