An estimate of 406,000 vote-by-mail package requests have been received as of Sunday evening, according to Elections BC.
Officials estimated a total of 800,000 mail-in voting package requests to come in following NDP Leader John Horgan’s sudden call for an early provincial election last week.
While the the number of package requests have reached half of the agency’s predicted amount within the week, the numbers may not reflect the final number of votes, according to Elections BC
“Note that this estimate does not represent the number of vote-by-mail packages issued to date, or the number of mail-in ballots that will be considered for counting,” says the Elections BC website.
“This is because voters may no return their vote-by-mail package by the deadline, and all vote-by mail packages must be screened before being accepted for counting.”
Anton Boegman, chief electoral officer, said at a press conference on Sept. 22 that the final results could be delayed, depending on the numbers of mail-in ballots and how long it takes to count them.
The election-night vote count represents the initial results and the final count of mail-in and absentee ballots will not start until 13 days after the election, Boegman said.
The initial election-night vote count represents the results of advance and election-day polls, he said. Those numbers usually account for about 90 per cent of the total votes, but that percentage could change this year with increased mail-in ballots, Boegman added.
Despite being in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, Horgan made a call for an early provincial election on Sept. 22 saying that the current minority government “could create instability” in the economic and health response during COVID-19.
-With files from The Canadian Press
