Electronic vote counters likely to speed up B.C. election results

British Columbians could find out who wins the provincial election on Oct. 19 in about the same time it took to start counting ballots in previous votes.

Andrew Watson, a spokesperson for Elections B.C., said new electronic vote tabulators mean officials hope to have the first results within 15 minutes of polls closing at 8 p.m. PT, half of the preliminary results reported within about 30 minutes, and for the count to be substantially complete within an hour.

Watson said in previous general elections — where votes have been counted manually — they didn't start the tallies until about 45 minutes after polls closed.

This will be B.C.'s first general election using electronic tabulators after the system was tested in byelections in 2022 and 2023.

"The reason behind them is to provide better service to voters and to make the voting process more accessible," Watson said Thursday.

Voters will still mark their choice of candidate on a paper ballot that will then be fed into the electronic counter, while networked laptops will be used to look up people's names and cross them off the voters list.

Watson said the change from a paper voters list means people casting ballots won't have to stand at specific voting stations based on their names, and the process is expected to take an average of five minutes. 

He said the electronic tabulator means voters will know right away if their ballot can't be read, something that wasn't possible under a manual system.

"So we're hopeful that that will reduce the rate of rejected ballots in the election, which is already low, but anything we can do to bring that number lower is, I think, beneficial for accessibility."

One voting location in each riding will also offer various accessible voting methods for the first time, where residents will be able to listen to an audio recording of the candidates and make their selection using either large paddles or by blowing into or sucking on a straw.

The province's chief electoral officer recommended modernizing the voting system in 2018 and politicians passed the required legislation a year later. Watson said the snap 2020 election, held about a year earlier than expected, didn't leave enough time to implement the changes.

He said Elections B.C. has heard from a small minority of voters who are concerned about the use of the technology. Watson said voters are still making their choice on a paper ballot, which is considered "the gold standard in election administration because it gives you a complete paper trail for audits, recounts, whatever is necessary."

"We still have scrutineers, [and] party and candidate representatives observing every step of the process, and there's an extensive testing process in place to make sure that tabulators are tested before and after they're used," he said.

"And, again, parties and candidate representatives observe that whole process, and it's all done transparently in a voting place."

Elections B.C. says the tabulators are never connected to the internet, to prevent hacking.

Watson said in close races, recounts will be done by hand.