Voter Turnout Estimate Updated; Interim Statement of Votes Available

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2020

VICTORIA – Elections BC has updated its estimate of voter turnout in the 2020 Provincial General Election from 52.4% to 54.5% of registered voters.

The updated estimate is based on the number of registered voters at the close of general voter registration on September 26, and the number of valid votes and rejected ballots cast at all voting opportunities.

As voters in B.C. can register when they vote, the number of registered voters on Election Day (October 24, 2020) will not be known until post-election processing is complete. Once this figure is known Elections BC will report the final turnout rate for 2020.

In total, 1,900,353 voters voted in the provincial election. While this was 86,021 fewer than in the 2017 Provincial General Election, when 1,986,374 voters cast a ballot, it was the second highest total in B.C. electoral history.

A record 724,279 voters requested vote-by-mail packages in 2020, a massive increase from past provincial elections. 596,287 voters returned their package by the close of voting, representing a return rate of 82.3%. This return rate does not account for voters who requested a vote-by-mail package but decided to vote in person. This figure is still being determined, and will be reported on in the Chief Electoral Officer’s report for the election (to be published in 2021). In the 2017 provincial election only 6,517 voters voted by mail, representing 57.8% of packages issued for that election.

This was also the first election in B.C. in which more voters voted before Election Day than on Election Day. The table below shows the percentage of votes that were cast at each type of voting opportunity in 2020 compared with 2017:

Voting opportunity	Percentage of total votes cast in 2020	Percentage of total votes cast in 2017
Advance voting	35.4%	30.2%
Voting by mail	31.4%	0.3%
Absentee voting	4.4%	8.7%
Voting on Election Day	28.8%	60.8%

For interim voting results by voting area (or “poll by poll results”) see the data file at the link below. The final Statement of Votes for the election will be available in the Chief Electoral Officer’s election report.

Links:

• Interim Statement of Votes – Voting Results by Voting Area (Excel)
• Voter Turnout in the 2020 Provincial General Election Infographic (PDF)

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Contact:
Andrew Watson
Director, Communications
Elections BC
Phone: 250-387-1709
Email: Andrew.Watson@elections.bc.ca
Website: elections.bc.ca

Elections BC is the independent, non-partisan Office of the Legislature responsible for administering electoral processes in British Columbia under provincial legislation, including the Election Act, Local Elections Campaign Financing Act, Recall and Initiative Act and Referendum Act.