Advance polls and mail-in ballots played a larger role in the 2020 B.C. election.
Shuswap voters took advantage of the early voting opportunities with approximately 37 per cent of eligible voters either requesting a mail-in ballot or visiting an early poll between Oct. 15 and 21.
A total of 6,399 vote-by-mail packages were issued in the Shuswap and 10,998 votes were cast at the advance polls.
Elections BC data shows Shuswap voters jumped at the advance voting opportunities, casting a total of 2,503 ballots on Oct. 15, the first day the polls were open, and 2,399 the following day.
The following five days saw 1,291 votes cast on Oct. 17, 1,138 on Oct. 18, 1,465 on Oct. 19, 1,109 on Oct. 20 and 1,186 on the final day of advance polls.
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A total of 46,886 people are registered to vote in the Shuswap. In the last provincial election in 2017, 42,481 voters were registered in the Shuswap and 26,678 cast a ballot for a 62.8 per cent turnout
In 2017, BC Liberal Party candidate Greg Kyllo was elected as MLA for the Shuswap riding with 14,829 votes. Sylvia Lindgren of the BC NDP was the runner up with 7,161 votes followed by Kevin Babcock of the BC Green Party with 4,175 and Libertarian candidate Kyle McCormack with 410.
Unlike most elections, official results are not expected in the hours following the close of the main poll on Oct. 24. Due to the number of mail-in and advance poll ballot, a final count and official results are not expected until mid November.
jim.elliot@saobserver.net
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