Elections B.C. ready to tackle fast-growing requests for mail-in ballots
More than 160,000 British Columbians have requested mail-in ballots in just three days since NDP Leader John Horgan called a snap election.
How many mail-in ballots will actually be cast is the big mystery.
Voters in New Brunswick took advantage of advance voting when they went to the polls earlier this month. About 35 per cent of votes were cast during a two-day advance vote, while only 17 per cent were cast by mail.
B.C.'s advance voting window is a full seven days, beginning Oct. 15 through the 21, from 8 a.m.-to-8 p.m.
“In voting places, voters can expect physical distancing, hand-sanitizer stations, capacity limits, protective barriers for election officials and election officials wearing PPE,” said chief electoral officer Anton Boegman.
If that doesn't sound very enticing, there are a wide variety of other voting options.
People with physical disabilities can use assisted phone voting and people with sight impairment can access election materials in braille and plastic ballots at all voting places.
And even though most voters “will likely only spend minutes inside a voting place,” according to Boegman, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a surge in interest in mail-in ballots.
Elections B.C. “began procuring a large volume of voteby-mail supplies this summer in preparation for a potential election and we have enough to meet the anticipated demand,” the elections administrator wrote in response to questions from Postmedia News.
Suppliers are in-place to produce more if necessary.
Boegman said between 35 and 40 per cent of voters are believed to be interested in voting by mail, which means up to 800,000 packages may be distributed between now and election day on Oct. 24.
Each package contains six pieces: A secrecy sleeve, a certification envelope, a return envelope, a ballot, a write-in ballot and a set of step-bystep instructions for filling out the ballot and assembling the return package.
Provincial service-provider B.C. Mail Plus has automated the production of packages and will help manage the volume of returned ballots. All returned packages will be stored and then processed in a secure storage facility.
Completed vote-by-mail ballots can be mailed in or dropped off at any polling place, Service B.C. offices in Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby and Masset, any district electoral office, and other drop locations still to be determined.
Completed ballots must be received by Elections B.C. before 8 p.m. on election day.