Steveston-Richmond East and Richmond Centre ridings saw an increase of voters coming out to vote in advance polls this weekend.
The preliminary count for Richmond Centre was 8,317 votes cast in advance polls, up 29 per cent from the 2015 election. This mirrors numbers at advance polls across Canada, explained Albert Wei, the returning officer for Richmond Centre’s Elections Canada office.
Voting took place at Brighouse elementary and Kwantlen Polytechnic and went without any glitches, Wei said.
In Steveston-Richmond East, the number of ballots cast in advance polls was 11,375, up by 19 per cent from the previous federal election.
Voting at Steveston-Richmond East at McMath secondary, McRoberts secondary, Richmond Pentacostal Church and Peace Mennonite Church went "extremely well" with very few lineups, said Michael Cohene, Elections Canada returning officer for the riding.
Across Canada, there were about 4.7 million voters who cast their ballots from Oct. 11 to Oct. 14.
There was a 29 per cent increase in voters coming out to advance polls compared to 2015 when about 3.7 million cast a ballot before general voting day.
These are still estimates, according to Elections Canada, and there might be some polls that haven’t reported yet.
"More and more Canadians are taking advantage of early voting opportunities to cast their ballots," says Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault. "Having extended voting hours at advance polls gave Canadians more flexibility to use this option. I want to thank returning officers for their careful planning and the thousands of election workers who made that possible."
Richmondites who didn’t vote in the advance polls, can vote on Oct. 21 in their riding. The two ridings in Richmond are Steveston-Richmond East and Richmond Centre.
To find your voting station, click here and then enter your postal code.
