VICTORIA -- Wednesday was the last of seven straight days of advanced voting in the provincial election, and there was a steady stream of folks casting a ballot at an advance polling station on Cook Street in Victoria. The line included plenty of people who were hand-delivering mail-in ballots, which they hadn’t returned by mail in time.

Elections BC says just shy of 725,000 people requested mail-in packages, and by the end of the day Tuesday, they had received nearly half of them back.

Elections BC adds that if people have not mailed in their mail-in ballots yet, they should return their ballots in person to ensure their vote arrives in time to be counted for the election.

In fact, Elections BC says that if a mail-in ballot was not mailed by Oct. 17, it likely will not be received in time.

The organization says that mail-in ballots that have not been mailed yet can still be dropped off on general voting day, as advance voting has now come to an end.

Voters have several options for doing so, including in-person at a voting station on general election day this Saturday, Oct. 24.

Alternatively, voters can return a mail-in-ballot Thursday or Friday in person at an electoral office or in person at a drop box location, identified on Elections BC’s website.