Voters in Saanich North and the Islands, here lining up outside Sidney’s Mary Winspear Centre on the first day of advanced voting, are among the provincial leaders in getting in their votes early, with some 20 per cent (10,174) of eligible voters have already cast their ballots. (Wolf Depner photo)

Voters in Saanich North and the Islands, here lining up outside Sidney’s Mary Winspear Centre on the first day of advanced voting, are among the provincial leaders in getting in their votes early, with some 20 per cent (10,174) of eligible voters have already cast their ballots. (Wolf Depner photo)

It’s Election Day in B.C.: Here’s what you need to know to vote

B.C.'s snap election has already broken records for advance voter turnout, mail-in ballots

  • Oct. 24, 2020 12:00 a.m.

It’s officially Election Day in B.C.’s 2020 provincial snap election.

First called in September by B.C. NDP leader John Horgan, the 2020 election is likely going to be one for the history books, having already broken a number of records when it comes to voter turnout.

Roughly 681,000 people cast their ballot during the seven days of advanced voting that ended Wednesday, compared to 614,389 in 2017.

Meanwhile, 478,900 returned vote-by-mail packages had been received by Elections BC by Oct. 22, representing 66 per cent of the packages requested.

It is expected that some ridings will see preliminary results as to which candidate will likely take a seat in the B.C. Legislature after polls close Saturday night.

Meanwhile, candidates — and voters — in close races will have to wait until mid-November for the winner to be declared after the record number of mail-in ballots are counted by Elections BC officials starting Nov. 6.

Haven’t voted? Here’s what you need to know:

Polling locations:

Normally it’s faster to vote at your assigned voting place on General Voting Day, but you can vote at another voting place if it is more convenient to you.

Voting places will be available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Here’s a list of all the voting places in Delta North:

You can also cast your ballot at the Delta North district electoral office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The DEO is located at 200 – 11950 80th Avenue.

Candidates running in Delta North:

Ravi Kahlon (BC NDP)

Neema Manral (BC Green Party)

Jet Sunner (BC Liberal Party)

READ MORE: Get to know the candidates for Delta North

SEE ALSO: Three candidates running in Delta North

SEE ALSO: Health care, taxes, education discussed at final Delta North all-candidates meeting

SEE ALSO: Racism, policing discussed at Delta North all-candidates meeting

Voter registration:

While eligible voters who haven’t registered ahead of time can do so in person before casting their ballot. To be eligible, British Columbians must be able to show one of the following pieces of identification:

  • A B.C. driver’s licence
  • A B.C. Identification Card
  • A B.C. Services Card, with photo
  • A Certificate of Indian Status
  • Another card issued by the B.C. government, or Canada, that shows your name, photo and address

Health rules for voting during COVID-19:

All voting places and district electoral offices will have protective measures in place, including:

  • Physical distancing
  • Capacity limits
  • Election officials wearing personal protective equipment (such as masks and face-visors)
  • Protective barriers
  • Hand sanitizing stations
  • Frequent cleaning of voting stations and frequently touched surfaces
  • Election workers trained on safe workplace guidelines and pandemic protocols

— with files from Ashley Wadhwani


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