BC Election Sees Record-Low Voter Turnout
B.C.’s recent provincial election recorded the lowest voter turnout in a century, with fewer than half of registered voters casting ballots, according to preliminary figures from Elections BC. Approximately 48.1 percent of registered B.C. voters cast ballots in the Oct. 24 provincial election, the lowest turnout since records began in 1928 and down from the […]
The recent decline contrasts with earlier B.C. elections, when turnout exceeded 70 percent in every provincial election from 1983 to 2001. Since then, voter participation has not surpassed approximately 62 percent.
The latest contest saw a resounding election victory for the B.C. Conservatives under interim leader Lorne Doerkson, who captured approximately 48 percent of the popular vote and ended almost a decade of NDP governance in the province.
Elections BC’s latest figures as of the afternoon of Oct. 25, showed the B.C. Conservatives leading in 63 of B.C.’s 93 ridings, trailed by 28 for the B.C. NDP, and two for the B.C. Greens.
The elections agency reported that 1,798,990 ballots were cast out of 3,738,182 registered provincial voters, with 99.96 percent of ballot boxes reporting as of Oct. 25—a decline of about 14.7 percent from the 2,109,658 people who voted in 2024.
B.C.’s snap election was called Sept. 22 by then-Premier David Eby less than two years into his government’s four-year mandate, with Eby citing the need for a stronger mandate in the face of U.S. trade tensions and more stability for the province.
Doerkson, who was appointed interim leader on Sept. 20, criticized the early election call as an attempt to exploit internal division within the B.C. Conservatives, following the recent departure of former Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay.
Meanwhile, municipal elections held across B.C. on Oct. 17 saw higher turnout than in 2022. In Vancouver, 43.4 percent of eligible voters cast ballots, up from 36.3 percent in the previous municipal election. Province-wide turnout also increased, rising by about three percentage points compared with 2022.
The B.C. NDP recorded the largest decline in popular-vote share of any party in the provincial election.
The NDP received 670,602 votes in the preliminary count, down 273,977 from 944,579 in 2024, a decline of about 29 percent. Its share of the popular vote fell from 44.87 percent to 37.37 percent, a decrease of 7.50 percentage points.
The B.C. Conservatives, by comparison, increased their share of the popular vote from 43.28 percent in 2024 to 48.05 percent in the recent election, despite receiving 48,836 fewer votes. Their total fell from 911,153 in 2024 to 862,317.
While both the B.C. Conservatives and B.C. NDP received fewer votes than in 2024, the B.C. Green Party recorded a significant rise in total votes and its share of the popular vote.
The Greens received 196,880 votes in the provincial election, up 13.6 percent from 173,377 in 2024, while its share of the popular vote increased by 2.73 percentage points. The gains did not translate into additional seats, however, as the Greens won two seats, the same number as in 2024.
The rise in the voter support for the Greens appeared key in certain close races during the election, including in Saanich South, where the Conservatives lead by 39.24 percent in preliminary results, followed by the NDP at 34.6 percent, and the Green Party at 25.98 percent.
The same riding saw the NDP take 49.76 percent of the vote in 2024 compared to the Green Party’s 17.79 percent, and the B.C. Conservatives’ 32.45 percent, representing a rise of more than eight points for the Greens in that riding and a loss of roughly 15 points for the NDP.
Election figures across B.C. suggest that growing support for the Green Party accounted for only some of the B.C. NDP’s overall losses, however, with the Greens gaining roughly 23,500 votes compared to the almost 274,000 lost by the NDP.
Elections BC says final counting will take place from Nov. 6 to 10 and include outstanding special, absentee, assisted telephone, and mail-in ballots.
