Hundreds of thousands vote by mail

Oct 15, 2020 | 2:57 PM

Elections B.C. has sent out nearly 700,000 mail-in ballots for the October 24 general election — a dramatic increase from 2017.

As of October 13, over 697,000 voters have requested vote-by-mail packages or about 20 per cent of the nearly 3.5 million registered voters. In the 2017 provincial election, just over 6,500 voters voted by mail.

A total of 138,500 vote-by-mail packages have been returned to Elections B.C., representing approximately 21 per cent of packages issued to date.

Vernon-Monashee has 52,479 registered voters and 8,464 vote-by-mail packages have been requested or about 16 per cent of registered voters.

The Shuswap riding has 46,886 registered voters and 6,235 of those have requested packages, representing just over 13 per cent of voters.

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Elections B.C. indicates it is possible that voters, especially those who request a voting package this week, will receive their vote-by-mail package after the recommended deadline to return it by mail on October 17.

Voters in this situation should plan on returning their package in person to a designated drop-off location, or vote in person during advance voting or on Election Day. Voters who have requested a vote-by-mail package must destroy it if they choose to vote in person, and should not return the vote-by-mail package to Elections B.C.

Voters who have received their vote-by-mail package are encouraged to return it to Elections B.C. as soon as possible. Organizers recommend voters mail their completed package by this Saturday, October 17 at the latest.

After October 17, Elections B.C. recommends voters return their completed package in person at any designated drop-off location. Designated drop-off locations include district electoral offices, voting places during voting hours, and some Service BC locations.

To have your vote count, packages must be received by 8 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday, October 24. For voting locations and election information visit the provincial website.

Advance voting starts today.

by Kevin Rothwell

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