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When British Columbia’s election agency tabulates the results of Saturday’s provincial election, many of the votes will be counted by hand.
Elections B.C. says it is employing a “hybrid” model this year in which votes cast on election day will be tallied manually, while advance votes and ballots cast at district electoral offices will be counted using a tabulator.
Elections B.C. chief electoral officer Shipra Verma said the snap election meant there wasn’t time to properly deploy electronic vote counting equipment province-wide.
That’s despite the fact there was widespread speculation the province would face an early election.
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“The amount of technology with each tabulator is quite extensive and we want to make sure that we have adequate time to test each and every technologic equipment that we deploy in the field,” Verma said.
“Also, from training perspective, we have to train the staff. So we chose a model which we thought would be the best served model for British Columbians.”
Elections B.C. says it expects votes tallied with tabulators to be resulted first. Verma said results from hand-counted in-person votes should begin to report around 9 p.m. PT.
More than 891,000 British Columbians — about a quarter of registered voters — cast an early ballot this year. That number, however, represents an 11 per cent drop from the 2024 election, breaking with a two-decade trend in growth in early voting.
British Columbia used electronic vote tabulators for the first time in the 2024 election, an initiative it counted as a success.
The elections agency said the tabulators allowed the first preliminary results to be reported within five minutes of polls closing, and 59 per cent of preliminary results to be reported within half an hour.
Mail-in votes to be counted later
If the election comes down to a razor thin margin, as it did in 2024, British Columbians may have to wait for a decisive result.
That’s because Elections B.C. says the election-night vote count won’t include mail-in or absentee ballots.
Those won’t be tallied until the Nov. 6-10 final vote count.
“Mail-in ballots require additional verification and integrity checks,” Verma said.
“If you choose to vote by a mail-in option, you can still change your mind and vote in person, so we have to do the additional verification to make sure a voter has only voted once and we don’t have multiple ballots from a voter.”
In 2024, election night failed to deliver clear winners in 11 ridings.
The final count, including mail-in and absentee ballots, revealed the NDP would form government.
But it took a pair of judicial recounts to determine the party had won a majority — nearly three weeks after election day.
Where to follow election night results:
CBC News will begin live coverage of the 2026 British Columbia election at 7:30 p.m. PT.
Online: Up-to-the-minute live updates at cbc.ca/bc. CBC’s election special will also stream live on CBC Gem, YouTube and TikTok.
TV: Live on CBC Television (check your TV service provider for channel).
Listen: Live on CBC Radio One or listen online.