VICTORIA -- Just over half of registered voters in British Columbia voted in Saturday’s provincial election, according to preliminary results from election officials.
Elections BC estimates that at least 52.4 per cent of registered voters in the province participated in the Oct. 24 election that saw John Horgan and the B.C. NDP win a majority government.
Election officials say 670,324 voters went to advance polls to cast their vote, while 546,877 people voted at their assigned polling place on election day.
There were approximately 525,000 ballots sent through the mail that have yet to be counted. That number does not include mail-in ballots that were returned in-person to polling stations or district electoral offices, according to Elections BC.
An additional 85,000 absentee ballots that were cast during the campaign period and on election day won’t be counted until the final vote tally, which Elections BC previously said it hopes to complete before Nov. 16.
Elections BC says its preliminary voter turnout estimate will likely increase from 52.4 per cent once those mail-in ballots that were dropped off in person are accounted for.
There are approximately 3,485,858 registered voters in B.C., according to officials.
In the 2017 provincial election, 61.2 per cent of eligible voters participated, casting 1,986,374 valid votes.
Elections BC says the 2020 election turnout could be comparable, with around 1.8 million votes potentially cast.
Officials say the number of registered voters has increased since 2017, likely resulting in a lower percentage of registered voters participating. In the 2017 provincial election, there were 3,246,647 registered voters in B.C.
