Unprecedented mail and advance voting made casting ballots on election day a breeze Saturday. No lines, easy in and out — done.
“About the time it takes to get a cup of coffee,” said one voter who arrived with his dog at Gordon Head Middle School in the Oak Bay-Gordon Head riding over lunchtime Saturday.
Voting places at schools and community halls had plenty of parking. Many people walked to cast their votes on a crisp, sunny autumn day.
With more than one million votes already registered in B.C. before Saturday — about half of the total in the previous election — many voters didn’t expect delays at voting stations.
“This was the most convenient for me,” Cerena Wray said before voting at Gordon Head Middle School. “I missed the mail-in deadline. The advance voting was too far.”
She’s never missed a provincial election, but wasn’t happy about having to vote a year early and during a pandemic after Premier John Horgan called the snap election last month.
“It’s terrible timing,” said Wray, noting she was voting Green. “It’s hard enough to maintain distancing even without having to vote.”
At Cordova Bay Elementary School in the Saanich South riding, Jamie and Judy Mackenzie arrived to a quick and efficient voting process. They were in and out in a few minutes.
They praised Elections B.C. for operating a safe voting station, with plastic barriers, oral voter declarations, minimal contact with ballots, the use of their own pens and plenty of personal protective gear. “Elections B.C. deserves a lot of credit for protecting their staff — and protecting us,” said Jamie Mackenzie. “We were really impressed. A lady even had an exit sign on her face shield so we knew where to get out.”
The Mackenzies spurned advance and mail voting, saying “the odds were good” there wouldn’t be lineups on election day. “We like to vote on election day,” said Judy Mackenzie.
At Sir James Douglas Elementary school on Moss Street, voters arrived every few minutes early in the afternoon, but there was no lineup.
It was even quieter at the Cook Street Village Activity Centre, where many voters had cast ballots in advance.
Election watchers will be seeing whether the turnout on voting day is lower than usual, given the high number of advance votes.
Voters arrived at polling stations in the capital region on everything from motorized scooters to taxis and skateboards.
Not every voter had to enter the polling station, however.
At Craigflower Elementary School on Admirals Road, in the Victoria-Swan Lake riding, election officials were on alert for voters who were unable to leave their vehicles because of physical challenges, and needed to vote curbside.
By early evening on Saturday, ballot boxes had been delivered to three voters at their vehicles, said election official Jim Cuthbert. “That means the voting officer, and possibly an information officer, go out into the parking lot and approach the voters and do all the voting right there at the side of the vehicle,” he said.
Cuthbert said he was not aware of other voting stations providing curbside service, but said it was part of Elections B.C. training for the Oct. 24 election. “I think it is really going to catch on.”
Activity at the Craigflower School polling station was brisk in the morning and at lunch, but quiet in the afternoon, Cuthbert said.
Two 19-year-olds who were voting at Craigflower said they both cast ballots for the NDP. The women said they were inclined to vote for the B.C. Greens, but felt the party did not have a chance of forming government. “I figured it would be more useful to vote NDP,” one said.
At the Royal Canadian Legion Trafalgar Pro Patria Branch on Gorge Road East, Scarlet Koldt cast her ballot in the Victoria-Swan Lake riding for the NDP.
“I work with the homeless population and work with people with mental-health and addiction issues and have been very present in the tent cities that have popped up and now in the hotels that are being moved into,” she said. “So I’m really passionate about it and really happy with honestly how the NDP has handled it.”
Connor, who did not want to give his last name, voted for the Communist candidate at the same voting place, prompted by issues including taxes, homelessness and the opioid crisis.
He was initially concerned about voting during the pandemic, but said his concerns disappeared when he went inside.
“Everything is distanced, there’s lots of hand sanitizer, people were wearing masks, their shields were up. It took five minutes. I even made a mistake and they were really quick to help me fix it.”
dkloster@timescolonist.com
cjwilson@timescolonist.com
