Local students ready to Take it Over and get people out to vote

The College of New Caledonia Students’ Union is encouraging students to register to vote by joining the Take It Over campaign that is focused on increasing youth voter turnout.

The Take It Over campaign has been signed onto by 15 student unions associated with the British Columbia Federation of Students, including the College of New Caledonia Students’ Union, and Northern British Columbia Graduate Students Society. Additionally, the Northern Undergraduate Students Society signed onto the campaign as well.

“The future cannot be seen but created for sure, and the most significant investment in the future can be choosing a leader who will create opportunities for your future. Elections are the only platform that can do that,” said Sharanjit Kaur, the chair of the College of New Caledonia Students’ Union, in a news release. “Elections become incredibly important to the youth who desire to grow in the world with their capabilities. All young minds who are full of creativity, talent, and skills are looking for chances to make optimum use of their ability. These elections have become a huge foundation to build your dreams. So, I would like to request everyone and, in particular, the young voters to make the best out of this preliminary opportunity first. Young people can discuss all the qualities and opportunities they desire for their future and then decide which leader is ready to play a part in their future.”

“Prince George is a vibrant university town that houses two post-secondary institutions. Young people’s perspectives are relevant in the society,” said said Jingyu Chen, the President of the Northern Undergraduate Student Society. “The election is about representation. MLAs are elected by their constituents to represent them on a provincial level. Young people are part of that group and should not be left behind. It’s our responsibility as student societies to ensure that students who are eligible to vote are informed about the election process and that their voices are heard by the people that represent them.” 

However, students’ unions like the Northern British Columbia Graduate Students Society acknowledge that they represent a unique group of individuals with separate needs than those of the general student population.

“Graduate students contribute so much to their universities and to the development of their society, in general,”said  Abby Dooks, the Director of External Affairs for the Northern British Columbia Graduate Students Society. “We are teachers, researchers, our work is published and can achieve academic clout for their institutions to boost their popularity—We can discover new methods scientifically, politically, or otherwise that can contribute to how policy is formed and what technological advances are made… It is very important that Graduate Students’ vote for a leader who will recognize our uniqueness in contributions as well as needs. Some graduate students have children, are trying to make rent, depend on government funding for research and therefore, require prioritization”. 

The Take It Over campaign launched on September 23 and has been working on getting potential voters to sign a pledge stating that they will vote in this year’s provincial election come October 24th. People who are interested in joining this campaign can go to https://www.takeitover.ca to officially sign the pledge and learn about how they can use their voice to make changes in this province.

Election 2020

Election 2021 – Candidates’ tweets

August 27, 2021Todd Doherty – Conservative Tweets by ToddDohertyMP Garth Frizzell – Liberal Tweets by garthfrizzell Audrey McKinnon – NDP Tweets by mckinnondeLEON Leigh Hunsinger-Chang – Green Party Tweets by leighhunsinger1 [...]

Wilkinson stepping down as Liberal leader immediately

November 23, 2020After initially saying he would stay on until the BC Liberals have chosen a new leader, Andrew Wilkinson has decided to step down immediately. Wilkinson announced shortly after the Liberal election loss last month that he would step down as leader of the party. “It is now time for me to leave the role of Opposition Leader, as the voters of British Columbia have made their preference clear,” he said in a Facebook post Friday. “In doing so, I welcome the selection of an interim leader from our caucus and will fully support her or him as our caucus prepares to act as the Official Opposition once again.” Suggestions are that the interim leader could be either Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond or Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Peter Milobar. “My past role, and the role of the new interim leader, requires a great deal of humility and a willingness to listen to people from all over B.C., to learn from them so that our work reflects the dreams and desires of the people of our province,” Wilkinson said. “Indigenous communities will need to be engaged as partners on projects and initiatives that will bring prosperity to everyone who lives here. That work must now be undertaken with renewed energy and commitment, so that our caucus and our party can fully reflect the views of everyone who calls this land their home, and work with them to provide a prosperous, respectful, and healthy future for everyone.” The party could name an interim leader as soon as today.New conversations are happening about what is important to people now,” Wilkinson said. “Things like access to housing that works for the different ways that people live their lives. Affordable and efficient transportation and quality healthcare must be a priority for every government going forward. Equality and opportunity for everyone and protection of LGTBQ2S rights need to be integral parts of policies and plans throughout government, because these are fundamental to the fairness and equality that we all seek.Our party, the interim leader, and our members have a lot of work to do. We need to rebuild and renew – and that starts with tough conversations and sincere reflections.” [...]

B.C. election voter turnout updated to 54.5 per cent

November 20, 2020Elections BC has updated its estimate of voter turnout in the 2020 provincial general election from 52.4 per cent to 54.5 per cent of registered voters. The updated estimate is based on the number of registered voters at the close of general voter registration on September 26, and the number of valid votes and rejected ballots cast at all voting opportunities. As voters in B.C. can register when they vote, the number of registered voters on Election Day (October 24, 2020) will not be known until post-election processing is complete. Once this figure is known Elections BC will report the final turnout rate for 2020. In total, 1,900,353 voters voted in the provincial election. While this was 86,021 fewer than in the 2017 Provincial General Election, when 1,986,374 voters cast a ballot, it was the second highest total in B.C. electoral history. A record 724,279 voters requested vote-by-mail packages in 2020, a massive increase from past provincial elections. 596,287 voters returned their package by the close of voting, representing a return rate of 82.3 per cent. This return rate does not account for voters who requested a vote-by-mail package but decided to vote in person. This figure is still being determined, and will be reported on in the Chief Electoral Officer’s report for the election (to be published in 2021). In the 2017 provincial election only 6,517 voters voted by mail, representing 57.8 per cent of packages issued for that election. This was also the first election in B.C. in which more voters voted before Election Day than on Election Day. The table below shows the percentage of votes that were cast at each type of voting opportunity in 2020 compared with 2017: Voting opportunityPercentage of total votes cast in 2020Percentage of total votes cast in 2017Advance voting35.4%30.2%Voting by mail31.4%0.3%Absentee voting4.4%8.7%Voting on Election Day28.8%60.8% For interim voting results by voting area (or “poll by poll results”) see the data file at the link below. The final Statement of Votes for the election will be available in the Chief Electoral Officer’s election report. Links: Interim Statement of Votes – Voting Results by Voting Area (Excel)Voter Turnout in the 2020 Provincial General Election Infographic (PDF) [...]

NDP add two seats as mail-in ballots are counted

November 9, 2020Just as Americans waited days for election results, so did we here in British Columbia … albeit a little less breathlessly and with less on the line. When voting was completed October 24, it was pretty clear the NDP had formed a majority government, even with hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots yet to be counted. Now they have been counted and the NDP solidified its majority by picking up two more seats, at the expense of the Liberals. The Liberals also picked up a seat, at the expense of the Green Party (although a recount will be held in that riding as the Liberals are ahead by only 41 votes). At the conclusion of final count the election results were as follows: Political Party Members elected BC Green Party 2 BC Liberal Party 28 BC NDP 57 Voting results for each electoral district by party and candidate are available on the Elections BC website atresults.elections.bc.ca. The results did not change in either Prince George riding with Liberal Shirley Bond retaining Prince George-Valemount and Liberal Mike Morris keeping Prince George-Mackenzie. Following the conclusion of final count, a candidate is declared elected in each electoral district and the District Electoral Officer returns the writ of election to the Chief Electoral Officer. The Chief Electoral Officer then reports the candidate elected to the Clerk of the House, formally ending the 42nd Provincial General Election in that electoral district. A writ cannot be returned until at least six days following the end of final count – the period within which a judicial recount can be requested. The writs of election will be returned the week of November 16 in every electoral district except West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, which is subject to an automatic judicial recount. An automatic judicial recount must take place when the difference between the top two candidates is less than 1/500 of the total ballots considered. For more information, see https://elections.bc.ca/news/media-advisory-final-count-complete-in-west-vancouver-sea-to-sky-judicial-recount-to-be-held/. The Supreme Court of British Columbia will determine when the judicial recount takes place. West Vancouver-Sea to Sky’s writ will be returned once the judicial recount is complete. For more information on judicial recounts, see Elections BC’s Guide to Voting and Counting athttps://elections.bc.ca/docs/guidebooks/879-Guide-to-Voting-and-Counting.pdf. Premier John Horgan issued the following statement after the final results were released. “I’m humbled and honoured by the support British Columbians have shown for our BC NDP team and want to wish a warm welcome to the newest members of our team of 57 BC NDP MLAs.“Thank you Elections BC staff and volunteers for making voting easy and safe for everyone. Thanks to everyone who put their names forward as candidates. “COVID-19 is presenting us with new challenges each day, and we need to keep the focus where it belongs: keeping ourselves, our families and our communities healthy, safe and secure. We will get through this together.“Just like we have for the last three and a half years, we’re going to do our level best each and every day to keep BC moving forward and build a better future for everyone.“That’s my commitment to you.“ [...]

Talk PG talks elections – U.S. and B.C.

November 5, 2020

Elections BC ready to start final vote count November 6

November 4, 2020Preparations are nearing completion for the final count of mail-in and other absentee ballots in the provincial election. Final count is scheduled to begin across the province on November 6 and is expected to take at least three days to complete. In Prince George-Valemount there are 4,105 more ballots to be counted. On election night, Liberal Shirley Bond had 7,560 votes and her nearest rival, New Democrat Laura Parent had 3,477 votes. In Prince George-Mackenzie there are 4,437 more ballots to be counted. On election night, Liberal Mike Morris had 6,361 votes and his nearest rival, New Democrat Joan Atkinson, had 3,874 votes. Note that these figures do not represent the final number of absentee and mail-in ballots that will be counted in each district. All certification envelopes must be screened before being accepted for counting to ensure legislated requirements are met, and to prevent multiple voting. Certification envelopes that do not pass screening are set aside and not opened. During final count, certification envelopes that are found to contain no ballot or more than one marked ballot will also be set aside and not considered. Candidates and at least one representative per candidate may be present at final count, and must make a solemn declaration of secrecy before observing. Starting at 10 a.m. on November 6, voting results will be updated as counting progresses at results.elections.bc.ca. Once a district completes counting a type of absentee ballot, results will be reported for that type of ballot, and the Elections BC website will be updated. There are several different types of absentee ballots that are counted at final count, including ballots cast at district electoral offices and ballots cast outside the voter’s electoral district of residence. Results will be updated on the Elections BC website on an ongoing basis during the counting process, and at the end of each counting day. Counting is expected to continue until 6 p.m. each day until final count is complete, but counting hours may vary by district to ensure that final count is completed as soon as possible. As final count progresses, a report on the Elections BC website will show the number of certification envelopes that have been considered in each district, and the total number of certification envelopes to be considered. This report will be available once final count begins.  [...]