Record low turnout in B.C. election, dropping below half for first time

By Canadian Press Staff The vote count in British Columbia’s election on Saturday produced a massive majority for the B.C. Conservatives, but it’s also revealing other trends. Here’s a closer look at the numbers, based on preliminary results from Elections BC. TURNOUT PLUNGES TO RECORD LOW The early election saw preliminary turnout drop to 1,798,990, down about 14.7 per cent from the 2024 election when 2,109,658 people voted. Turnout was 48.1 per cent, a record low for B.C. since at least 1949, when suffrage was extended to Indigenous people and some previously excluded ethnic groups. It is also the first time that turnout has dropped below half, although the 2020 pandemic election came close at 53.9 per cent. Turnout has broadly been declining at B.C. elections since the 1980s when…

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