Surrey residents who have already made up their minds in the provincial election are now able to cast their ballots in-persony.
Advance voting started Thursday and runs until Oct. 21, with Election Day on Oct. 24.
Elections BC had received roughly 670,000 vote-by-mail package requests as of Oct. 14. There are 3.48 million registered voters in B.C.
Here’s what you need to know before you vote:
Advance polling locations:
Advance voting places will be available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time on the days they are open. Click here to see Surrey’s advance voting locations.
Candidates running in the riding:
A total of 32 candidates are running in nine ridings in the Surrey/White Rock area.
In Surrey-Whalley, the candidates are Ryan Abbott (Communist Party of BC), Jag Bhandari (B.C. Vision), Shaukat Khan (BC Liberal Party) and Bruce Ralston (BC NDP).
In Surrey-Newton, names on the ballot will be Harry Bains (BC NDP), Paul Boparai (BC Liberal Party) and Asad Syed (BC Green Party).
There are four candidates in Surrey-Guildford, including Garry Begg (BC NDP), Dave Hans (BC Liberal Party), Sam Kofalt (Independent) and Jodi Murphy (BC Green Party).
The two candidates in Surrey-Green Timbers are Dilraj Atwal (BC Liberal Party) and Rachna Singh (BC NDP).
In Surrey-Fleetwood, the candidates are Jagrup Brar (BC NDP), Dean McGee (BC Green Party) and Garry Thind (BC Liberal Party).
The five candidates in Surrey-Cloverdale are Aisha Rehana Bali (Conservative), Marvin Hunt (BC Liberal Party), Rebecca Smith (BC Green Party), Mike Starchuk (BC NDP) and Marcella Williams (Independent).
In Surrey-Panorama, names on the ballot will be Gulzar Cheema (BC Liberal Party), Sophie Shrestha (B.C. Vision) and Jinny Sims (BC NDP).
Candidates in Surrey South are Stephanie Cadieux (BC Liberal Party), Pauline Greaves (BC NDP) and Tim Ibbotson (BC Green Party).
In Surrey-White Rock, the five candidates are Jason Bax (Libertarian), Trevor Halford (BC Liberal Party), Beverly (Pixie) Hobby (BC Green Party), Megan Knight (Independent) and Bryn Smith (BC NDP).
Voter registration:
While eligible voters don’t have to register ahead of time to take part in the election, Elections BC recommends British Columbians sign up ahead of time in order to avoid lengthy lineups.
Voters can register or update their information online at elections.bc.ca/ovr or by calling 1-800-661-8683. Registration closed on Sept. 26.
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
