"Final Voting Day" for the B.C. election is Saturday, Oct. 19, but voters have a few different ways to cast a ballot before then, with key deadlines ahead.
Advance polls open for five days starting Thursday, Oct. 10 (closed on Monday for Thanksgiving). People can vote at any advance voting place in B.C. at sites searchable on wheretovote.elections.bc.ca. Voters can also cast a ballot at district electoral offices (listed on elections.bc.ca/docs/2024-district-electoral-offices.pdf) and by mail (vote-by-mail package requests are available online and by phone until Oct. 13).
On Oct. 19, polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Pacific time. "Voters have an assigned voting place on Final Voting Day, but you can vote at another voting place if it’s more convenient to you," says the Elections B.C. website (elections.bc.ca/2024-provincial-election). Don't forget to bring ID and the Where to Vote cards mailed out to registered voters.
You can vote if a Canadian citizen, 18 or older on Oct. 19, 2024, and a resident of B.C. since April 18, 2024. Registration is done online. Monday, Oct. 7, is the last day to register or update voter registration online or by phone for this election. You can still register when you vote, but voting might take a bit longer.
Voters will elect 93 Members of the Legislative Assembly. Each MLA represents an electoral district (or riding, 10 of which are in Surrey) and has a seat in the provincial Legislature. The political party with the most seats in the Legislature will form B.C.’s next government, currently the B.C. NDP.
New voting processes and technology will be used in this B.C. election, including networked laptops instead of paper lists to look up voters and cross them off the voters list. "Electronic tabulators will be used to count paper ballots," says the Elections B.C. website. "Tabulators are accurate, secure and efficient. They help us report results quickly on election night."
These changes mean that almost all ballots in the election will be counted on election night, the website promises. "In past B.C. elections, absentee and mail-in ballots could not be counted until final count, which took place about two weeks after election day."
Questions? Call 1-800-661-8683.
