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

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

First called in September by B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan, BC Votes 2020 is likely going to be one for the history books, already seeing a number of records broken 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 by the end of day Saturday. Meanwhile, close races will have to wait until mid-November for the winner to be declared, once mail-in ballots are counted by Elections BC officials after Nov. 6.

Haven’t voted? There’s still time. Here’s what you need to know:

Polling locations:

Voting places will be available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time on the days they are open.

BX Elementary School – 5849 Silver Star Rd.
Cherryville Community Hall – 158 North Fork Rd.
Clarence Fulton Secondary School – 2301 Fulton Rd.
Coldstream Elementary School – 10104 Kalamalka Road, Coldstream
Community Baptist Church – 4911 Silver Star Rd.
Kalamalka Secondary School 7900 McClounie Rd., Coldstream
Lakers Clubhouse 7000 Cummins Rd.
Lavington Elementary School 9715 School Rd., Coldstream
Mabel Lake Community Hall 111 Shuswap Falls Rd. Mabel Lake
Schubert Centre 3505 30 Ave.
Vernon Japanese Cultural Centre 4895 Bella Vista Rd.
Vernon Recreation Centre 3310 37 Ave.
Vernon Secondary School 2100 15 St.
White Valley Community Centre 2250 Shields Ave., Lumby

Candidates running in the riding:

Kyle Delfing, BC Conservative Party

Eric Foster, BC Liberals

Harwinder Sandhu, BC NDP

Keli Westgate, BC Greens

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

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Vernon Morning Star