B.C. smashes advance voting record, over a million ballots cast

A record number of British Columbians have cast their ballots in advance voting before the provincial election on Saturday, Elections B.C. says.

The elections body says 1,001,331 people have already voted, representing more than 28 per cent of all registered electors and putting the province on track for big overall turnout.

About 223,000 people voted on the final day of advance voting on Wednesday — the last of six days of advance polls — shattering the single-day record set just a day earlier by more than 40,000 votes.

The previous record for advance voting in a B.C. election was set in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when about 670,000 people voted early, representing about 19 per cent of registered voters. 

Some ridings have already seen turnout of more than 35 per cent, including the Vancouver-Point Grey riding held by B.C. NDP Leader David Eby, where 36.5 per cent of all eligible voters have cast their ballots.

There has also been big advance turnout in some Vancouver Island ridings, including Oak Bay-Gordon Head (39 per cent of all eligible voters) and Victoria-Beacon Hill (37.2 per cent), where B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau is running. Advance voter turnout in B.C. Conservative Party Leader John Rustad's riding of Nechako Lakes was 30.5 per cent.

"[The turnout] reflects what I believe, which is this election is critically important for the future of our province," Eby said Thursday at a news conference in Vancouver. "I understand why British Columbians are out in numbers. We haven't seen questions like this on the ballot in a generation."

Conservative Leader John Rustad held no public availabilities on Thursday.

Adam Olsen, Green Party campaign chair, said the advance voting turnout indicates people are much more engaged in the campaign than they were in the weeks leading up to the start of the campaign in September.

"All we know so far is that people are excited to go out and vote early," he said. "The real question will be, does that voter turnout stay up throughout election night?"

Overall turnout in B.C. elections has generally been dwindling since the 71.5 per cent turnout for the 1996 vote.

The total turnout in the 2020 election was 54 per cent, down from about 61 per cent in 2017.

Factors in advance turnout

It's too early to say if the province is experiencing a "renewed enthusiasm for voting" or not, said Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at the University of British Columbia. 

"As a political scientist, I think it would be a good thing to see, but I'm not ready to conclude that's what we are seeing just yet," he said, adding, "this is one of the storylines to watch come Saturday."

Prest said many factors are at play in the record numbers of advance voters.

The dramatic downfall of the Official Opposition B.C. United party and voter frustration could also be contributing to the size of the advance vote, said Prest, noting "uncertainty about the B.C. Conservative Party as an alternative."

Advance voting generally comes with greater convenience, he added.

"If you have an early option, if you have an option where there are fewer crowds, fewer lineups that you have to deal with, then that's going to be a much more desirable option," Prest said.

"So, having the possibility of voting across multiple advanced voting days is something that more people are looking to as a way to avoid last-minute lineups or heavy weather."

Elections B.C. spokesperson Andrew Watson said they have heard from voters who view advance voting as a convenient option that ensures "they have an opportunity to cast their ballot in case something comes up on election day or if they have plans that day." 

He said it's too soon to know whether this election's high advance voting numbers will mean an overall higher turnout or whether fewer people will vote on election day.

Watson added that while advance voting has broken records, fewer voters are choosing to vote by mail compared to the 2020 election when close to 600,000 mail-in ballots were cast amid the pandemic. This election, vote by mail requests have been closer to 100,000, says Watson.

Voters along the South Coast who have not yet cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an atmospheric river weather system that's forecast over election day.