THE TIME comes to see the results of the HST referendum today, Friday Aug. 26.
Acting chief electoral officer Craig James will announce the results of the referendum after vote counting closes, which is expected to be around noon, said Elections BC communications planning officer Don Main Aug. 24.
After the introduction of the HST by the provincial government to replace the PST and GST after the provincial election, an opposition rose against it, led primarily by former premier Bill Vander Zalm, who put out a petition, which garnered enough signatures to call for the unpopular tax to be repealed and the PST and GST to be returned.
The government responded with a mail-in ballot referendum with a deadline of July 22, which was postponed to Aug. 5 after a postal strike prevented some people from receiving their ballots in time for the initial deadline.
Ballots didn’t start being counted until Aug. 10, which allowed time for them to be returned to the collection centre in Victoria from the Service BC and Elections BC centres and time for them to be verified, said Main.
Results will be posted on the Elections BC website and will include the number and percentage of yes and no votes and results by electoral district, he said.
More details, including spoiled and rejected ballot numbers, will be released in the chief electoral officer’s report due to be published in November, he added.
