It’s officially Election Day in B.C.’s 2020 provincial snap election.
Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday Oct. 24.
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.
In the Cariboo Chilcotin riding there were 3,943 votes cast in the advanced polls and 2,671 advanced votes in Cariboo North. There are 25,306 possible voters in Cariboo Chilcotin and 21,960 possible voters in Cariboo North.
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.
Voters who have not mailed in their ballot can actually drop it off directly at a polling station.
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.
Here’s what you need to know:
Polling locations for the Cariboo Chilcotin
108 Mile Ranch Comm Hall 4924 Telqua Drive, 108 Mile Ranch
100 Mile Community Hall, 265 Birch Avenue, 100 Mile House
100 Mile Elementary School, 97 Birch Ave., 100 Mile House
150 Mile Fire Hall 3038 Pigeon Rd., 150 Mile House
Alexis Creek School 7651 Yells St., Alexis Creek
Anahim Lake Elem/Jr Sec School 22484 20 Hwy., Anahim Lake
Cataline Elem School 1175 Blair St.,Williams Lake
Chilcotin Road Elem School 709 Lyne Rd., Williams Lake
Datsan Chugh Building 1000 Anaham Reserve Rd., Alexis Creek
Dog Creek Comm Hall 927 Gym Rd., Dog Creek
Elizabeth Grouse Gym 2674 Indian Drive, Sugarcane
Elks Hall 98 First Ave. South, Williams Lake
Forest Grove Community Hall, 4489 Eagle Creek Rd., Forest Grove
Interlakes Community Hall, 7592 24 Hwy, Bridge Lake
Lone Butte Comm Hall, 5994 Little Fort Hwy 24, Lone Butte
Mountview Elem School 1222 Dog Creek Rd. Williams Lake
Naghtaneqed Elem School 8450 Nemaiah Valley Rd/, Nemaiah Valley
Pioneer Centre 4822 Clarke Ave., Lac la Hache
Plummer Residence 5390 Farwell Canyon Rd., Big Creek
Ramada Inn Convention Centre 1118 Lakeview Cres., Williams Lake
St. Andrews United Church 1000 Huckvale Place, Williams Lake
Sxoxmic School 1001 Esket Dr., Alkali Lake
Tatla Lake Elem/Jr School 16780 20 Hwy., Tatla Lake
Toosey Band Office 2790 20 Hwy., Riske Creek
Tsi Del Del School Redstone Reserve Rd., Chilanko Forks
Polling locations for Cariboo North
Big Lake Comm Hall 4056 Lakeview Rd Big Lake
Horsefly Comm Hall 5772 Horsefly Rd Horsefly
Likely Comm Hall 6281 Rosette Lake Rd Likely
McLeese Lake Comm Hall 6178 Forglen Rd McLeese Lake
Miocene Comm Hall 3615 Horsefly Rd Miocene
Wildwood Fire Hall 4253 Wildwood Road, Wildwood
Candidates running in the riding:
Cariboo-Chilcotin
Scott Andrews, BC NDP
James Buckley, Libertarian Party
Lorne Doerkson, BC Liberals
David Laing, BC Greens
Katya Potekhina, Independent
Cariboo North
Scott Elliott, BC NDP
Douglas Gook, BC Greens
Coralee Oakes, BC Liberals
Kyle Townsend, BC Conservatives
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
Watch the Williams Lake Tribune website for election coverage.
– with files from Ashley Wadhwani
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