B.C. Election Day Live: The latest news, results and reaction

It’s election day across B.C.

Voters across the province head to the polls today beginning at 8 p.m. to vote on whether the B.C. NDP keeps its majority hold on the province or if a new party will steer for the next four years.

Once polls close at 8 p.m., results will start to trickle in about who’s in and who’s out across B.C.’s 93 electoral districts.

Bookmark this live-blog and check back throughout the day for coverage of the day’s events, results as they come in, and dispatches from reporters covering ridings across Metro Vancouver.

Two years ago, Elections B.C. used electronic machines to count votes for the first time and was happy with it. This year, with the snap election, the agency says there wasn’t enough time to prepare for a repeat.

The 890,000 cast in the 300 advance polling stations were tabulated by machines and are ready to be released when polls close on Saturday at 8 p.m.

But each paper ballot cast Saturday in the 2026 provincial election will be counted the time-tested method — that is, by hand.

Voters wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference in the voting booth because the ballots look the same and were filled out the same.

The difference may be evident by the rate at which results are finalized and released by Elections B.C. to the public.

Chief Electoral Officer Shipra Verma explained to Postmedia the “complex operational logistics” cited in an Election B.C. news release for going back to hand-counting.

— Susan Lazaruk

The polls are open across British Columbia. While results won’t be available until after 8 p.m., early turnout over six days leaves some room for concern.

Over six days of advance voting from Oct. 16 to 21, 891,348 voters turned out across B.C., representing about 24 per cent of registered voters. That’s compared with 1,001,331 voters in 2024, or about 28 per cent of registered voters. In almost every riding numbers spiked Saturday, the second day of voting, but ultimately fell short of the 2024 turnout over the full six days.

For more information on where to vote and what ID you need to bring, check our voters’ guide here.

-Glenda Luymes