Briefly: Elections BC spokesperson said ballots and other documents were stored off-site during the advance voting week, including at the homes of Elections BC officials. Several security measures were in place to protect electoral integrity.
When B.C.’s early voting polls closed at night, did you know where your ballot was?
Elections BC reported a record of more than one million people voted in advance between Oct. 10-16.
A member of one candidate’s team showed theBreaker.news correspondence with an Elections BC local official about a case of unmarked ballots being taken home for safe-keeping. The candidate asked not to be identified in print.
(Elections BC)
“Supervisors have the options of keeping sensitive documents and ballots either at my district office or at a safe place off the polling place over night (i.e. their home but not left in their cars),” the district returning officer wrote. “The key point is keeping them off-site.”
The email said that all election officials “have made their solemn declarations to maintain the integrity of our voting process” and routinely bring all ballots back to specific polling sites prior to opening each day.
An Elections BC spokesperson confirmed that storing ballots at home is an option.
“At the end of each day of advance voting, cast ballots are secured in a ballot box that is sealed and signed by election officials and scrutineers,” said senior communications director Andrew Watson. “In urban ridings, unused ballots and ballot boxes are returned to the district office for secure storage. Where this is not possible, for example in rural ridings, where it is too far for a voting place supervisor to drive back to the district office at night, the unused ballots and sealed ballot boxes will be securely stored at the senior election official’s home. This maintains the chain of custody.”
Watson said ballots are reconciled at each station so that officials know how many ballots have been issued, cast by voters and remaining
Watson called the security of all ballots, whether unused or cast, “essential for electoral integrity.” A $10,000 fine, year in jail or both are maximum punishments should an election official be found guilty of breaking the oath to uphold the Election Act by tampering with ballots and other election materials.
The Elections BC “Guide to Voting and Counting” contains a section on procedures for the end of each day at advance voting.
It says to ensure the official record of the votes is kept secure, ballots cast will be transferred from their original ballot box to a transfer ballot box that is sealed and labelled with the voting place name, date and tabulator identification.
“The transfer ballot box will be stored off-site at the district electoral office or at the home of the voting place supervisor,” the manual said.
Scrutineers are encouraged to observe the process.
The David Eby-led NDP won 46 seats on Oct. 19, one more than John Rustad’s Conservatives, but one shy of a majority.
Elections BC’s final count is scheduled for Oct. 26-28, with some 65,000 mail-in and absentee ballots to be counted around the province. Automatic recounts will take place in Surrey-City Centre and Juan de Fuca-Malahat, where NDP candidates won by fewer than 100 votes.
Elections BC rejected requests for recounts by one Green and three NDP candidates. One of those was Surrey-Guildford NDP runner-up Garry Begg. An Oct. 24 letter to Begg from District Electoral Officer Rana Malhi said Begg provided no evidence of ballot counting errors.
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