New technology is being rolled out for the Oct. 19 provincial election that will see results come out faster on election night.
Electronic vote "tabulators" will be used to count paper ballots, and print out results on tape, after the machines were tested in 2022 and 2023 in by-elections.
"They will help us report results quickly on election night," said Elections BC in a release last week. "These changes mean that almost all ballots in the election will be counted on election night."
That's a big change from previous elections in B.C. when absentee and mail-in ballots could not be counted until final count, up to two weeks after election day.
"This delay was necessary to complete the manual, paper-based checks that were required to verify that the voters who cast these ballots were eligible to vote and that they had only voted once."
The new voting process and networked laptop computers allow election workers to perform integrity checks much faster— almost in real-time, say officials.
The electronic counters are secure because they are never connected to the Internet, and undergo rigorous testing before and after use.
"This means that around 98% of all ballots, including absentee and mail-in ballots, will be counted on election night."
Networked laptops will be verifying voter registration and crossing names off the voters' list, instead of using paper lists. That will reduce lineups, making voting more efficient and allow voters to vote at any voting place.
The changes are geared to offering "better service" to voters voting outside of their electoral district, as well as voters with disabilities.
"If you vote at a voting place outside of your electoral district, we will print a ballot for you listing the candidates from your district. The tabulator will count your ballot when you cast it, and your vote will be included in the results reported on election night."
There are new services in 2024 for voters with sight loss and other disabilities. An Accessible Voting System will be available in every district electoral office. Voters will have the option to listen to an audio recording of the candidate list for their district and cast their vote by using a hand-held selector device, sip-and-puff straws or paddles.
The 2023 provincial general election is on Saturday, Oct. 19. Advance voting will run on six days Oct. 10-13 and Oct. 15-16 at four Chilliwack-Cultus Lake locations, and two Chilliwack North locations, all listed at wheretovote.elections.bc.ca