Approximately 19.5% of voters cast ballots during advance voting

Of the approximate 3.4-million registered voters in British Columbia, over 681,000 cast an early ballot during advance voting for the 2020 provincial election.

According to Elections BC, that means 19.5% of eligible voters utilized the seven days of advance voting leading up to election day this Saturday.

If you include mail-in ballot requests, Elections BC has received close to 400,000 vote-by-mail packages as of Thursday, although nearly 725,000 mail-in ballots were requested by voters. To-date 55% of requested ballots have been returned to Elections BC. However, mail-in ballots that were dropped off during advance voting or are currently in-transit are not counted as having been “received” by the elections authority.

As of Thursday, current voter turnout including mail-in ballots received and ballots cast during advance voting is 30.9%.

MORE: Advance Voter Turnout (Elections BC)

MORE: Vote-by-Mail Package Processing (Elections BC)

Here’s the effective breakdown on voter turnout in the local Kootenay and Kootenay Boundary ridings:

  • Columbia River-Revelstoke
    • Registered Voters – 26,166 *
    • Advance Voting – 6,662
    • Mail-in Ballots – 3,019 **
    • Votes Cast – 9,681 ***
    • Turnout Percentage – 36.9%
  • Kootenay East
    • Registered Voters – 32,135 *
    • Advance Voting – 8,117
    • Mail-in Ballots – 3,236 *
    • Votes Cast – 11,353 **
    • Turnout Percentage – 35.3%
  • Nelson-Creston
    • Registered Voters – 29,389 *
    • Advance Voting – 6,581
    • Mail-in Ballots – 4,041 *
    • Votes Cast – 10,622 **
    • Turnout Percentage – 36.1%
  • Kootenay West
    • Registered Voters – 33,192 *
    • Advance Voting – 5,874
    • Mail-in Ballots – 4,111 *
    • Votes Cast – 9,985 **
    • Turnout Precentage – 30.0%
  • Boundary-Similkameen
    • Registered Voters – 36,593 *
    • Advance Voting – 10,791
    • Mail-in Ballots – 5,193 *
    • Votes Cast – 15,984 **
    • Turnout Percentage – 43.6% *

With advance voting officially closing at 8:00 pm on Wednesday, the only opportunity for residents to vote is at a polling station on election day, Saturday, October 24th. Those that may have requested a mail-in ballot and received it this week are encouraged by Elections BC to complete it and drop it off in-person on election day or at a district electoral office in your riding. All completed vote-by-mail packages must be received by Elections BC before 8:00 pm (PT) on Saturday in order to be counted.

Completed vote-by-mail packages can be dropped off from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (Local) on Thursday and Friday or 8:00 am to 8:00 pm (PT) on Saturday at the following locations, in addition to any polling station on election day:

  • Columbia River-Revelstoke
    • 7585 W Main St – Radium Hot Springs
  • Kootenay East
    • C-520 Slater Rd NW – Cranbrook
  • Nelson-Creston
    • 570 Johnstone Rd – Nelson
  • Kootenay West
    • 1050 Eldorado St – Trail
  • Boundary-Similkameen
    • 8702 Main St – Osoyoos

MORE: District Electoral Offices (Elections BC)

 

 

* Registered voters from Elections BC are as of September 26, 2020 

** Mail-in Ballots are packages issued by Elections BC to those requested, not those that have necessarily been received by Elections BC

*** Figure includes mail-in ballots issued by Elections BC, not necessarily ballots that have been successfully received for counting on election day

Bradley Jones
Bradley Jones
Delivering local news and sports in the East Kootenay since April 2016, Bradley now calls Cranbrook home. Born and raised in Airdrie, AB, Bradley graduated from Lethbridge College, and has been a journalist, news anchor and reporter since 2014. Bradley took on local News Director responsibilities when he moved to Cranbrook in 2016. He is now Vista Radio's Kootenay News Director, managing and overseeing all news operations at the company's five regional radio stations in Cranbrook, Creston, Nelson, Castlegar, and Grand Forks.

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