Nearly half a million absentee and mail-in ballots have made their way to their home constituencies to be added to the B.C. election’s final vote count.
Vernon-Monashee has received 5,431 certification envelopes containing absentee or mail-in ballots as of Thursday, Oct. 29, according to an Elections BC progress report.
A total of 469,306 certification envelopes have been received by electoral districts around the province.
The numbers released Thursday are not final, Elections BC notes, as more absentee or mail-in ballots may still be added to the final count.
Certification envelopes are sent from where they are cast or received to the voter’s district of residence during preparations for the final vote count. Neighbouring districts in Kelowna-Lake Country and the Shuswap have so far received 6,152 and 3,560 certification envelopes, respectively.
B.C.’s final count is expected to take until mid-November.
The counting of absentee and mail-in votes has large implications in Vernon-Monashee — one of the tightest MLA race in the province with just 185 votes separating BC Liberal incumbent Eric Foster over NDP candidate Harwinder Sandhu.
READ MORE: B.C. VOTES 2020 MAP: Provincial election results, riding by riding
READ MORE: Almost 10,000 turn out to Vernon-Monashee advance polls
