Where are the Liberals? This BC election day, don't be surprised over this change at the polls
It can be pretty routine to head to the polls on Election Day and cast your ballot for your tried-and-true candidate, but for some, the name is not as important to them as the party itself. Some admit they just vote for the party and do very little research on the actual candidates.
Well, this year, that strategy might lead to some surprise when it comes time to pick.
We are hearing from some British Columbians this week that they were a bit shocked to discover one party missing from the ballot, so we thought we’d share what happened to the BC Liberals and why you won’t see their name on October 19.
Christy Clark/Facebook
First, a bit of background. The BC Liberal party, which many will likely remember for its policies during the 16 years of political supremacy under Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark, was created in the 1990s and has been described as having conservative and centre-right ideologies. Basically, the BC Liberals and the Federal Liberals have very different political views, and it was decided a long time ago that the name would have to change.
So, after losing in 2017 to the NDP and Green coalition and again in 2020, the BC Liberals officially rebranded under leader Kevin Falcon’s direction to BC United in 2022.
Kevin Falcon (BC United)
Fast-forward to August of this year. The election campaign hadn’t even officially begun, but Falcon announced he would not only personally pull out of the election nomination in his Vancouver riding but also suspend the party’s campaign. He said the reason was to get voters to align with the BC Conservatives, which some polls had shown were gaining ground in BC.
“I know that the best thing for the future of our province is to defeat the NDP, but we cannot do that when the centre-right vote is split,” he said.
Falcon had said the BC Liberal candidates would then seek approval of the BC Conservatives to see if they could run under their banner instead.
But that didn’t happen across the board. A select number of candidates wanted to still run under the BC United party, but that never came to fruition, and many previously Liberal/United candidates are running as Independents instead. Those names include Karin Kirkpatrick and Mike Bernier.
The party said that they were not folding and that they would regroup after the election.
Perhaps as a sign of their commitment to doing that, they are apparently having a watch party on Saturday night with former premier Gordon Campbell set to attend.
Are you going to the BC United election night watch party? Seriously, it’s a great way to celebrate your party being driven into the ground, as you drink your taxpayer funded severance away, while reading old Brent Chapman posts! #bcpoli #vanpoli pic.twitter.com/XcvkrVQy4b
— Jas Johal (@JasJohalBC) October 17, 2024
Depending on your riding, you might only see two names on the ballot, while other ridings have several Independent candidates alongside Conservative, Green, and NDP candidates.
Some people, unaffiliated with any of the other major parties, are running under other names, like Libertarian, for example.
Another change to the ballot
Elections BC voting place. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
For some, it might not only be the absence of the BC Liberals that leads to confusion but also a slight change in the process this year.
Instead of the long paper lists to check off voters, those working the polling stations will have laptops, which will hopefully speed up the check-in process. Good timing, too, because it turns out a TON of people have voted early this year, breaking records!
Then, after you’ve cast your ballot on the paper provided, it will be fed into machines called electronic tabulators, which Elections BC said are accurate, secure, and efficient. Despite previous election results taking weeks, they predict all the ballots will be counted that night.
There’s also new technology for those who have sight loss or other needs, as they “will have the option to listen to an audio recording of the candidate list for their district and cast their vote by using a hand-held selector device, sip-and-puff straws, or paddles.”