Deadline To Collect Electoral Reform Ballots Extended

Elections B.C. moves date to Dec. 7 due to rotating Canada Post strikes

We have extended the deadline to ensure that voters are not prevented from participating through no fault of their own.

Elections B.C. has extended the voting period for the referendum on electoral reform.

The non-partisan office, which is responsible for administering electoral processes in B.C., will accept completed voting packages until 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 7. The original deadline was Nov. 30.

The deadline was changed after five weeks of rotating Canada Post strikes.

“We have worked closely with Canada Post to understand the full impact of rotating strikes on the referendum process,” chief electoral officer Anton Boegman said in a news release. “Rotating strikes have impacted accessibility. As a result we have extended the deadline to ensure that voters are not prevented from participating through no fault of their own.”

Elections B.C. spokesman Andrew Watson said voters are encouraged to return their completed voting packages as soon as possible to ensure they are received by the new deadline.

The mail-in referendum first asks voters whether they would like to change to a proportional representation voting system or continue with the first-past-thepost electoral system.

A second question asks voters to rank three types of proportional representation systems that could be used if the voting system is changed: dual-member proportional, mixed-member proportional or rural-urban proportional.

Voters can answer this question even if they vote to stick with the current voting system.

A simple majority is required to change the voting system.

As of Friday morning, an estimated 980,000 voting packages had been returned, representing about 30 per cent of registered voters. This does not include packages that have been received by Canada Post, but not yet transferred to Elections B.C.

Maria Dobrinskaya, spokeswoman for Vote PR B.C., said the official pro-proportional representation organization is glad Elections B.C. decided to extend the deadline, and over the next two weeks they will continue to encourage people to send in their ballots.

“We are going to be just really focused on reaching as many voters as possible and doing that in as direct a way as we can,” she said.

Dobrinskaya said the hope is that the extension will help bolster ballot returns.

In terms of resources, Dobrinskaya said they have not yet spent the maximum allowable amount of $700,000 and are still actively fundraising, so there are options for how they could allocate their remaining money.

“We may have to make adjustments, particularly around the budgeting stuff, once we sort of look at it in a lot more detail,” she said.

Last week, the No B.C. Proportional Representation Society, the official proportional representation opposition, called on Elections B.C. to extend the voting deadline, citing low voter turnout and the postal strike.

Society vice-president Suzanne Anton said they ’re in favour of the extension that was announced on Friday.

“There are so many people that haven’t voted yet,” she said. “We do believe that the more time people have to absorb the message — that this is a very bad idea for British Columbians — isn’t a bad thing either.”

Anton said the society will spend that extra week campaigning and appealing to voters to return their ballots, and won’t change its tactics in any significant way, other than to make sure its resources can stretch a bit further.

“We do have to adjust, of course, because it is another week of making sure that the message gets out there,” she said.