British Columbia’s 2020 provincial election may have set a record for the lowest turnout in the province’s history.
Just over half of registered voters cast a ballot, according to preliminary data from Elections BC.
The electoral agency said turnout appears to be 52.4 per cent, down significantly from the 61.18 per cent of registered voters who cast a ballot in 2017.
However, Elections BC said the lower percentage also reflects the fact there were over 239,000 more registered voters this year than in the last election.
The previous record was set in 2009, when just 55.14 per cent of registered voters cast a ballot.
The number of actual votes this year was about 1.8 million, which Elections BC said is “comparable” to the approximate 1.9 million in 2017.
For the first time, more people in B.C. voted in advance polls than on election day. Elections BC estimates 670,324 people voted early, while 546,877 people voted in person on voting day.
The agency has also received 525,000 mail-in ballots, and 85,000 absentee ballots.
The number of votes cast may still climb, Elections BC said, as the total does not include mail-in or absentee ballots that were delivered to poling places in person on election day.