Close X
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. smashes advance voting record with a million ballots already cast

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 17 Oct, 2024 11:48 AM
  • B.C. smashes advance voting record with a million ballots already cast

Elections BC says a record number of British Columbians have already cast their ballots in advance voting before Saturday's provincial election.

The elections body says just over a million people have voted, representing more than 28 per cent of all registered electors and putting the province on track for big overall turnout.

They include about 223,000 people who voted on the final day of advance voting on Wednesday, the last of six days of advance polls, shattering the one-day record set just a day earlier by more than 40,000 votes.

Some ridings have already seen turnout of more than 35 per cent. 

The previous record for advance voting in a B.C. election was set in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when about 670,000 people voted early, representing about 19 per cent of registered voters. 

Total turnout in the 2020 election was 54 per cent, down from about 61 per cent in 2017.

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Liberal government launches $1.5B program to build more co-op housing

Liberal government launches $1.5B program to build more co-op housing
Housing Minister Sean Fraser announced the launch of a $1.5-billion co-operative housing development program that the federal government promised in its 2022 budget. Fraser was in Winnipeg on Thursday to announce the program, which Liberals touted as the largest federal investment in co-op housing in 30 years.

Liberal government launches $1.5B program to build more co-op housing

Good Earth light bars recalled due to fire, burn hazards

Good Earth light bars recalled due to fire, burn hazards
Health Canada and Good Earth Lighting are recalling some rechargeable LED motion-activated light bars because they pose a fire and burn hazard. The affected light bars are 12 inches long and were sold between October 2017 and January 2024.

Good Earth light bars recalled due to fire, burn hazards

A no from me': Ali refuses to hear B.C. murder victim's father ahead of sentencing

A no from me': Ali refuses to hear B.C. murder victim's father ahead of sentencing
A man convicted of murdering a 13-year-old Burnaby, B.C., girl has repeatedly told a pre-sentencing hearing that he didn't kill her, after refusing to listen to his interpreter during an impact statement by the girl's father. A portion of the recorded statement was being played to test equipment ahead of Friday's sentencing hearing for Ibrahim Ali, who faces a life term for the 2017 killing.

A no from me': Ali refuses to hear B.C. murder victim's father ahead of sentencing

Drop in drug overdose deaths

Drop in drug overdose deaths
Drug overdose deaths are down by 24 per cent between April last year and this April, but still B-C’s Coroner says 182 people died. Fentanyl remains the primary killer, with the drug detected in 82 per cent of test results for those who died so far this year. 

Drop in drug overdose deaths

Vancouver police crack down on stolen goods that turn up on downtown sidewalks

Vancouver police crack down on stolen goods that turn up on downtown sidewalks
Vancouver police say a crackdown on the sale of stolen goods that turn up on the sidewalks of the city's Downtown Eastside has led to five arrests and turned up more than $650,000 in cash, drugs and stolen property. Insp. Mario Mastropieri says a shoplifting "epidemic" is fuelling an illicit market in stolen goods run by organized criminals, that's affecting small businesses, their staff, and customers.

Vancouver police crack down on stolen goods that turn up on downtown sidewalks

Vancouver mayor grieves stabbing death of 32-year-old chef near Chinatown

Vancouver mayor grieves stabbing death of 32-year-old chef near Chinatown
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has issued a statement saying police are working tirelessly to find the person responsible for a fatal stabbing near the city's Chinatown early Wednesday.  Sim says the city is grieving the loss of 32-year-old Wataru Kakiuchi, a talented chef in a Yaletown Japanese restaurant. 

Vancouver mayor grieves stabbing death of 32-year-old chef near Chinatown