Final Day for Referendum voting

The deadline for participation in the 2018 Electoral process referendum has arrived and as the countdown to 4:30 this afternoon marches on, the participation rate for the North Coast continues to remain somewhat lethargic, with only 3,607 returned ballots screened by Elections BC officials, that out of a potential 14,903 voters.

The totals with but only a few hours to go, have delivered a rather subdued 24.2% participation rate in the referendum process, leaving the North Coast just a few percentages above four Surrey riding's which have even less interest in the potential shift in the way that British Columbians vote.

In the remainder of the Northwest, voters are slightly more engaged Skeena has edged up to a 30.2 percent participation rate, with Elections BC having screened 6,184 votes of a potential 20,485

Stikine tops the region in participation, with 30.8 percent of the eligible ballots screened by Elections BC as of yesterday, with 4,289 out of  13,931 potential returns in so far.

Across the province, the return rate as of yesterday was listed at 40 percent.

Only one constituency has cracked the fifty percent level, with Saanich North and the Island laying the claim to the those with the most interest in the process, they are followed closely by Parksville Qualicum residents who are just shy of the 50 percent mark

All of those totals do not include referendum packages that may still be in the Canada Post mail stream.

Those looking to make a last minute dash to deliver their returns are being advised to forward them to the Service BC office in their region, in Prince Rupert that office is located on Third Avenue West across the street from the Old Totem theatre.

Elections BC is directing last day voters to Service BC
offices today if they are planning to submit their ballot
in the electoral reform referendum

The full list of Service BC offices across the province can be found here.

Once they arrive at Elections BC they move to the tabulation phase of the process, the use of a ballot tabulation machine will provide British Columbians with their final results, Elections BC has not outlined a timeline, other than to note that it will depend on the volume of returns as to when they anticipate announcing the results.

The last week or so of the election reform campaigning has for the most part been rather low on the radar, with few comments pro or con to add to the volume of contributions of the fall.

We have been tracking much of those discussion themes since the referendum process was first outlined, you can review those notes here.

For more items of interest on provincial politics see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review