Elections BC says nearly 3,000 people cast their ballots at polling stations across the two Kamloops ridings on the first day of advanced voting yesterday.
Preliminary data shows 1,822 ballots cast in Kamloops-North Thompson out of 44,809 registered voters along with 986 votes in Kamloops-South Thompson out of 46,345 registered voters.
In the Fraser-Nicola riding which covers Merritt, Logan Lake, Ashcroft and Cache Creek there were a further 1,554 ballots cast yesterday, with 26,500 voters registered as of Sept. 26.
Provincewide, there were nearly 104,937 ballots cast yesterday on the first day of advanced polling down from 122,465 on the first day of advance voting in 2017.
Elections BC though says there was a delay in getting preliminary turnout figures from three ridings – Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, North Vancouver-Lonsdale, and West Vancouver-Capilano – and preliminary figures for these electoral districts will be published tomorrow.
Mail-in Ballot Update
As it stands, there have been 717,000 requests for a mail-in-ballot this year, a sharp increase from 6,500 during the last election.
“Certainly over the last few elections, advanced and convenience voting options like voting by mail are becoming more popular. But we haven’t seen an increase like we’ve seen this time in votes by mail. It really is unprecedented,” Elections BC spokesperson Andrew Watson told NL News.
As of 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 15, 2020, Watson says an estimated 177,000 returned mail-in ballots have been returned, about 25 per cent of the total.
British Columbians have been told to mail back their completed voting package by tomorrow – Oct. 17 – to ensure their ballot is counted. All ballots have to be in by 8 p.m. on Election Day – Oct. 24 – to be counted.
“We recommend that you request a vote-by-mail package by October 17. After 8 p.m. on October 17, voters will not be able to request a vote-by-mail package online or through our Contact Centre,” Watson noted.
“If a voter is unable to vote in person, they will still be able to request a vote-by-mail package from a district electoral office, which they can complete and drop off at any voting place, district electoral office or a participating Service BC office.”
Advanced polls will be open until Wednesday, Oct 21. To find if you advance voting station is open, you can check your voter card, go online to Elections BC or call them at 1-800-661-8683.
