Elections BC said as of Wednesday morning about 25 per cent of eligible voters had returned their referendum ballot packages, and 12.6 per cent had been screened.
In Powell River-Sunshine Coast, 7,056 ballots, representing about 18 per cent of eligible voters, had been screened.
The numbers jumped significantly late last week when Elections BC changed how it was reporting the returns to reflect the ballots received instead of only the portion of ballots that had been screened.
Still, concerns that returns could be low, combined with the ongoing job action at Canada Post, prompted the official No campaign to call for an extension of the voting period.
Elections BC has not commented on the turnout issue, but said it is closely monitoring the situation at Canada Post and that the Chief Electoral Officer has the authority to extend the voting period if necessary.
Canada Post’s normal delivery standards call for regular letters, such as the referendum ballot, to arrive at an addressee within the same province in three business days. But Canada Post says it cannot guarantee it will meet that standard because “strike efforts have caused significant backlogs and delays throughout our network.”
Ottawa announced Thursday it would table back-to-work legislation.
The mail-in ballots must be received by Elections BC before 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 30 – however, voters concerned about delivery can also drop their ballots off at Service BC offices.
The only Service BC office on the lower Sunshine Coast is at 5710 Teredo St. in Sechelt.
Elections BC said ballots are “considered received” once they’re dropped off at Service BC, which means voters can take them in any time before the office closes at 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 30.
The normal Service BC office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, with an hour-long closure at lunchtime, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
