B.C. smashes advance voting record with a million ballots already cast

Elections BC says more than a million British Columbians have already cast their ballots in advance voting before Saturday's provincial election, smashing a record set during the pandemic election four years ago.

The elections body says 1,001,331 people have voted, representing more than 28 per cent of all registered electors and putting the province on track for big overall turnout.

They include about 223,000 people who voted on the final day of advance voting on Wednesday, the last of six days of advance polls, shattering the one-day record set just a day earlier by more than 40,000 votes.

The previous record for advance voting in a B.C. election was set in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when about 670,000 people voted early, representing about 19 per cent of registered voters.

Some ridings have already seen turnout of more than 35 per cent, including in NDP Leader David Eby's Vancouver-Point Grey riding where 36.5 per cent of all electors have voted.

There has also been big turnout in some Vancouver Island ridings, including Oak Bay — Gordon Head, where 39 per cent of electors have voted, and Victoria — Beacon Hill, where Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau is running, with 37.2 per cent.

Advance voter turnout in B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad's riding of Nechako Lakes was 30.5 per cent.

Total turnout in 2020 was 54 per cent, down from about 61 per cent in 2017.

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Stewart Prest, a political-science lecturer at the University of British Columbia, said many factors are at play in the advance voter turnout.

“If you have an early option, if you have an option where there are fewer crowds, fewer lineups that you have to deal with, then that’s going to be a much more desirable option,” said Prest.

“So, having the possibility of voting across multiple advanced voting days is something that more people are looking to as a way to avoid last-minute lineups or heavy weather.”

Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.

Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.

The dramatic downfall of the Official Opposition BC United Party and voter frustration could also be contributing to the size of the advance vote, said Prest, citing "uncertainty about the B.C. Conservative Party as an alternative."

But Prest said it's too early to say if the province is experiencing a “renewed enthusiasm for voting” or not.

“As a political scientist, I think it would be a good thing to see, but I'm not ready to conclude that’s what we are seeing just yet,” he said, adding “this is one of the storylines to watch come Saturday.”

Overall turnout in B.C. elections has generally been dwindling compared with the 71.5 per cent turnout for the 1996 vote.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.