It’s an election unlike any other, with almost half a million British Columbians already requesting a mail-in ballot.
“The amounts of mail-in ballots are unprecedented,” said Andrew Watson with Elections BC.
In 2017, the number of mail-in voters in BC was only 6,500.
For those 450,000 who have already ordered their ballot via mail, the ballot looks a lot different. It’s blank because candidate nominations aren’t finalized until Oct. 2.
And with blank ballots, there’s a right and wrong way to fill them out.
“If you’ve received a blank ballot all you have to do is write the name of the candidate in your electoral district or the name of the political party you wish to hold power,” said Dr. Kim Speers, a public administrator professor at UVIC.
‘Whatever you do, don’t write the name of the leader.”
It’s something Elections BC, is warning against too.
“If a voter marked a ballot for a party leader who wasn’t running in their district, that ballot would be rejected,” said Watson.
Another concern for experts is voter fraud.
“There’s always a chance for voter fraud in any election. This is about power,” said Speers.
“I think it will be easier with a mail-in ballot to commit voter fraud because unlike when you in to go vote in person, you don’t need the ID and so forth.”
The first allegation of voter fraud popped up today in the Lower Mainland, with an NDP MLA accusing a BC Liberal of unnecessarily collecting voter’s personal information for the purpose of requesting vote-by-mail packages on their behalf.
The BC Liberals deny the allegations, and Elections BC says there’s no evidence to suggest voter fraud was committed.
READ MORE: Elections BC probes NDP complaint over Liberal candidate’s mail-in ballot requests
To make your mail-in vote count follow the instructions in your package and make sure you mail it in on time: before Oct. 24 at 8 p.m.
Kori Sidaway
