In the weeks leading up to the election, B.C. is seeing record-shattering mail-in voting numbers.
On October 13, B.C. Elections reported approximately 680,000 vote-by-mail packages issued to voters across the province. This marks approximately 19 per cent of the province’s nearly 3.5 million registered voters who will be mailing in their ballots this year. During the 2017 election, voters requested 6,517 mail-in ballot packages.
Statistically speaking, in the Chilliwack-Kent riding, there is a lower percentage of voters who requested mail-in packages. There are 43,698 registered voters at the close of this year’s registration period, September 26. Of those voters, 7,204 vote-by-mail packages have been issued, which adds up to about 16.5 per cent of Chilliwack-Kent voters.
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This means vote-by-mail requests in Chilliwack-Kent alone eclipsed province-wide numbers in 2017 by 687 requests.
Victoria-Beacon Hill has the highest number of voters-by-mail in the province with 17,287 vote-by-mail packages issued. This riding, however, does not have the largest number of registered voters; that honour belongs to Kelowna-Lake Country at 53,395.
B.C. Elections recommends voters who choose to vote by mail to submit their packages by Saturday, October 17. After October 17 at 8 p.m., B.C. voters will no longer be able to request vote-by-mail packages through the Elections B.C. website. Interested voters may also request a package by phone by calling 1-800-661-8683.
Advance voting began Thursday (October 15). The Agassiz Agricultural Association Hall will be open for advance voting October 15 to 21 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Rosedale United Church Hall is open for the same hours but will be closed on October 21. Tzeachten Community Hall is open October 15 to 18 and October 20 to 21 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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On Election Day, October 24, the Agassiz Agricultural Association Hall and Memorial Hall will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for voting. Please be sure to check your electoral card to verify where you will need to vote.
– With files from Ashley Wadhwani.
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