Peter Beckett, district electoral officer for Boundary-Similkameen, says more and more people are choosing to vote in advance of Election Day. To make that easier, there are now six advanced polling dates this time, including Saturday and Sunday this weekend. To avoid the crowds, past trends suggest the middle polling days are less busy. (Richard McGuire photo)
More and more people are voting ahead of election day and this year there will be two additional advanced poll days making a total of six.
This Saturday and Sunday, Osoyoos voters will be able to cast their ballots at the Sonora Community Centre between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Then, next week, there will be advanced polling dates from Wednesday, May 3 to Saturday, May 6, also from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Sonora Centre.
Election Day is Tuesday, May 9.
Peter Beckett, who oversees the process as district electoral officer for Elections BC in Boundary-Similkameen, says there are 11 different locations around the riding where people can vote in advance.
Pointing to charts on his wall, he shows how numbers of people choosing to vote in advance have been steadily rising with each election. In 1996, fewer than six per cent voted in advance. In the last election, in 2013, just over 20 per cent voted in advance.
“We’re trying to make it easier and easier for people to vote advanced and we suspect that at least 25 per cent of the population will be voting advanced this time,” said Beckett.
Although the advanced polling dates are handy for people who plan to be away on Election Day, nobody is asked the reason why they are voting in advance, he said. The reason could be as simple as they want to vote at that time.
But if your reason for voting at an advanced poll is to avoid the crowds on Election Day, Beckett has another graph that’s of interest.
The biggest crowds for advanced polls in 2013 were at the beginning and end dates for advanced polling. Those who came on one of the middle dates saw fewer crowds.
If you can’t vote on Election Day or at any of the advanced poll dates, or if you are away from home or you’re simply in a hurry to mark your ballot, there’s another option. At the Elections BC office on Main Street, you can cast a write-in ballot.
When the Osoyoos Times visited the office next to the former Macdonald Realty (now Outstanding Realty) on Monday, roughly 80 people had already voted since the writ of election was dropped on April 11.
Voters casting a write-in ballot don’t receive a regular ballot with the names of the candidates. Instead, they are handed a blank ballot and must write the name of the candidate they wish to vote for.
With this process, you can vote for a candidate in the riding where your normal residence is, whether it’s in Osoyoos, somewhere else in Boundary-Similkameen, or one of the other 86 ridings in the province.
While ballots cast at the advanced polls or on Election Day are counted on May 9, the process for counting write-in votes can actually take another couple of weeks.
In ridings where the winning candidate wins by a significant margin on Election Day, the write-in ballots won’t affect the outcome, even though total numbers may change.
But in the case of a very narrow win in the Election Day count, it’s possible that the write-in ballots could determine which candidate wins the seat.
Write-in ballots are placed in a blank envelope which is then put inside an outer “certification envelope,” Beckett explains.
The outer envelope records which riding the ballot needs to go to as well as information to make sure the voter is registered and is only voting once. The blank inner envelope protects the secrecy of the ballot.
On May 10, the day following Election Day, all the envelopes are sorted by the riding where they need to be sent and they are then couriered to those Elections BC offices in each of the 87 ridings.
The final count takes place over two or three days starting on Monday, May 22.
An official declaration of the winner is only made on May 31, when the writ is returned to Victoria, Beckett said.
To vote, electors must prove their residential address and identity. The most common way is with a driver’s license or B.C. Services Card, but numerous other options are possible. Visit elections.bc.ca for more information.
The Main Street Elections BC office is open normally Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On advanced poll days and Election Day, the office is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to coincide with voting hours.
That means that in addition to Monday to Saturday hours, the office will also be open this Sunday.
But, while you can now more easily vote early, it’s still against the law to vote often.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
