Elections BC is in the final stages of preparing for the final count of mail-in and other absentee ballots for the 2020 B.C. Election.
Elections BC said the final vote count will begin at 10 a.m. on Friday, November 6th, and take at least three days to finish.
According to Elections BC, verification on all absentee votes must be done to prevent multiple voting. Certification envelopes delivered with mail-in ballots must pass screening or they will be set aside and not opened.
As well, empty certification envelopes or those containing more than one marked ballot will also be set aside and not considered.
As districts complete their count, results for each type of ballot will be updated online.
Current preliminary results from Elections BC point to an NDP majority government, with 45.08% of the popular vote.
Preliminary popular vote count as of November 4th:
- NDP: 45.08%
- Liberal Party: 35.35%
- Green Party: 15.25%
- Other Parties: 3.73%
- Libertarian Party: 0.56%
Elections BC will consider a number of different kinds of absentee ballots while the final count is underway, including ballots cast at district electoral offices and ballots cast outside the voter’s electoral district of residence.
The count is expected to run until 7 p.m. each day until it is completed, but hours may vary between districts to ensure the count is wrapped up as quickly as possible.
Number of certification envelopes received:
- Boundary Similkameen: 5,127.
- Columbia River-Revelstoke: 2,832.
- Kootenay East: 3,282.
- Kootenay West: 3,902.
- Nelson-Creston: 3,471.
The final count is also expected to settle who the winner is in the Nels0n-Creston riding where BC NDP candidate Brittny Anderson has a 934 vote lead over BC Green candidate Nicole Charlwood.
MORE: 2020 B.C. Election – BC NDP Britnny Anderson poised to secure Nelson-Creston