Thousands of ballots have already been cast in Langley ridings in advance of Saturday’s provincial election day.
Advance voting ended on Wednesday, Oct. 21, and according to Elections BC, which oversees and runs the vote, about a fifth of eligible local voters have already cast ballots.
Turnout was heavy at the two main local ridings, Langley and Langley East.
• Langley: 8,361 votes cast, out of 44,715 registered voters
• Langley East: 10,431 votes cast, out of registered 52,882 voters
For comparison, in the 2017 election, there were 24,225 total votes cast in total in the Langley riding, and 30,584 in Langley East. If the numbers hold, a third or more of the votes could have been cast already. Fewer than 7,000 advance votes were cast in 2017.
Abbotsford ridings also include parts of Langley, with Aldergrove now in the Abbotsford South riding, and much of northeastern Langley in the Abbotsford West riding. Those also saw heavy advance participation.
• Abbotsford South: 8,085 votes cast out of 44,896 registered voters
• Abbotsford West: 8,061 votes cast out of 39,087 registered voters.
Those numbers do not include people who requested a mail-in ballot as of the end of the day on Oct. 20.
Those numbers include:
• Langley: 8,944 ballot requests
• Langley East: 11,799 ballot requests
• Abbotsford South: 7,425 ballot requests
• Abbotsford West: 5,231 ballot requests
However, it’s unknown how many people will actually use the mail-in ballots. It’s possible to receive a mail-in ballot and simply ignore it, voting on election day or at an advance poll instead.
Just 39 people voted by mail in the Langley riding in 2017, and 71 in Langley East.
Mailed in ballots won’t be counted until Nov. 6, the day the final council by Elections BC begins.
