(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)
October 16, 2020 - 6:00 AM
If you intend to vote in the provincial election and don't want to wait in the usual lines for voting, Saturday is the deadline for requesting mail-in ballots online.
Already, close to 700,000 people have made that request and, as of Oct. 13, about 138,800 had already been put in the mail and received by Elections B.C.
In the 2017 election, only 6,500 ballots were mailed in.
READ MORE: ELECTION 2020: Here’s what you need to know about mail-in voting
There are almost 3.5 million registered voters in B.C. but only about 61 per cent voted in the 2017 election. If that pattern holds true and all those requesting a mail-in ballot actually use it, that could mean about one-third of the votes won’t be counted on election night.
Out of seven ridings in Kamloops and the Okanagan, Penticton residents are the most interested in mail-in voting with 19.1 per cent of registered voters requesting a ballot. Least keen are Kamloops North residents at 12.1 per cent.
After Saturday, mail-in ballots can only be picked up at district electoral offices.
Elections B.C. recommends that mail-in ballots be mailed by Oct. 17. After that date it’s safest to drop them off at the electoral offices, up until 4 p.m. on election day or at advance and election day polling stations.
Advance voting starts tomorrow, Oct. 15 through to Oct. 21. The list of locations can be found here.
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