Elections BC is reporting a record number of British Columbians have voted in advance polls, ahead of the Oct. 19 general provincial election.
Just over one million British Columbians — or 1,001,331 — have already cast their ballots over the course of six advance voting days since Oct. 10.
In 2020, Elections BC reported 671,231 voters cast a ballot in advance polls (35.4 per cent of the 1.9 million who voted). But 2020 figures are skewed by the COVID-19 pandemic that also resulted in 31.4 per cent of voters casting their ballots by mail.
In 2017, 30.2 per cent of voters used advance polls, so 599,885 of the 1,986,374 voters.
The election pits the incumbent BC NDP against the BC Conservative Party and BC Green Party, as well as several independent and unaffiliated candidates formerly of the defunct BC United (BC Liberals).
Last election, in 2020, 53.86 per cent of registered voters cast a ballot, the lowest on record.
Since then, five by-elections have seen turnout between 17.7 per cent and 27.6 per cent.
There are about 3.55 million total registered voters this year, so far, according to Elections BC.
Figures to date show the total share of registered voters in the population has declined substantially: Statistics Canada shows B.C.’s population in Q3 2020 was 5,176,101 and there were 3,524,812 registered voters. In Q3 2024, the population rose to 5,698,430 and there were, as of today, 3,550,017 registered voters.
The 2020 Elections BC report states there were 38,414 new registrants on general voting day.
Polls are open Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
If you are not registered, you can still do so at any polling station. See Elections BC’s website for details.
Editor's note: This article has been edited Oct.17 with added information.
