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BC Votes: Polls closed

B.C.’s snap election has already broken records for advance voter turnout, mail-in ballots
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Voters in Saanich North and the Islands, here lining up outside Sidney’s Mary Winspear Centre on the first day of advanced voting, are among the provincial leaders in getting in their votes early, with some 20 per cent (10,174) of eligible voters have already cast their ballots. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)

Polls are now closed across the province.

Stay tuned to kimberleybulletin.com for up to the minute results.

It’s officially Election Day in B.C.’s 2020 provincial snap election.

First called in September by B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan, BC Votes 2020 is likely going to be one for the history books, already seeing a number of records broken when it comes to voter turnout.

Roughly 681,000 people cast their ballot during the seven days of advanced voting that ended Wednesday, compared to 614,389 in 2017.

Meanwhile, 478,900 returned vote-by-mail packages had been received by Elections BC by Oct. 22, representing 66 per cent of the packages requested.

In Columbia River Revelstoke 3,019 mail-in ballots were requested from Elections BC.

There are 45,503 registered voters in the riding, with 8,552 taking advantage of advance polls.

It is expected that some ridings will see preliminary results as to which candidate will likely take a seat in the B.C. Legislature by the end of day Saturday. Meanwhile, close races will have to wait until mid-November for the winner to be declared, once mail-in ballots are counted by Elections BC officials after Nov. 6.

Haven’t voted? There’s still time. Here’s what you need to know:

Polling locations:

Centennial Centre, 100 4th Avenue, Kimberley

Bootleg Gap Golf Course clubhouse at 400 315th Avenue in Marysville.

Candidates running in the riding:

BC Liberals Doug Clovechok

READ: Clovechok is running on his record

NDP Nicole Cherlet

READ: Revelstoke city councillor vying for Columbia River Revelstoke seat

Green Party Samson Boyer

READ: Columbia River-Revelstoke Green Party candidate is Fairmont’s Samson Boyer

Voter registration:

To be eligible, British Columbians must be able to show one of the following pieces of identification:

  • A B.C. driver’s licence
  • A B.C. Identification Card
  • A B.C. Services Card, with photo
  • A Certificate of Indian Status
  • Another card issued by the B.C. government, or Canada, that shows your name, photo and address

Health rules for voting during COVID-19:

All voting places and district electoral offices will have protective measures in place, including:

  • Physical distancing
  • Capacity limits
  • Election officials wearing personal protective equipment (such as masks and face-visors)
  • Protective barriers
  • Hand sanitizing stations
  • Frequent cleaning of voting stations and frequently touched surfaces
  • Election workers trained on safe workplace guidelines and pandemic protocols

– with files from Ashley Wadhwani