Nearly 40 per cent of registered voters in B.C. have returned their electoral reform ballots, according to the latest numbers published by Elections BC.
As of Monday morning, nearly 1.3-million voting packages had been received by Elections BC, which will continue accepting ballots until this Friday, Dec. 7.
Out of all areas of the province, Vancouver Island appears to be leading the way in terms of return rates so far.
The riding with the highest number of ballot packages received by Elections BC is Saanich North and the Islands with 47 per cent.
That's followed by three more Vancouver Island ridings: Parksville-Qualicum (46.8%), Oak Bay-Gordon Head (43.2%) and Courtenay-Comox (41.8%).
The riding with the lowest return rate in the province is Surrey-Whalley, which has had just 18.8 per cent of eligible ballots received.
The numbers don't reflect voting packages that have been received but not yet processed by Elections BC.
British Columbians are being asked to vote on whether they want to stick with the current first-past-the-post system or move to a form of proportional representation for the next provincial election in May 2021.
The initial deadline for packages to be received was Nov. 30, but rotating Canada Post strikes forced Elections BC to extend it until this Friday.
A final vote of 50 per cent plus one in favour of proportional representation would be required to change the current system.
