As Referendum Begins, Elections BC Is Watching the Postal Strike ‘Very Closely’

Elections BC began mailing out voting packages for the province’s referendum on electoral reform on the same day that workers at Canada Post began a rotating strike.

“We’re monitoring the situation very closely,” said Chief Electoral Officer Anton Boegman. “At this time the job action is not impacting the delivery schedule for voting packages. Voters have lots of time to receive, complete and mail their packages.”

A statement on Canada Post’s website said the Canadian Union of Postal Workers began strikes Monday that were expected to last 24 hours in Victoria, Edmonton, Windsor and Halifax.

“We are accepting and delivering mail and parcels in all other locations,” the statement said. “We remain committed to arriving at a negotiated settlement with CUPW, while making every effort to minimize the impact of any disruption on the customers we serve.”

Boegman said Elections BC has over 3.3 million voting packages to mail to registered voters. Voters in the province’s interior, north, Richmond and Vancouver should receive voting packages by the end of the week, he said, as should people north of the Malahat on Vancouver Island.

Voting packages should arrive at homes in greater Victoria and in the rest of the Lower Mainland outside Vancouver by the end of next week, he said.

Boegman said he has the authority to change the timing of the referendum if there are extraordinary circumstances such as a postal strike, as the agency did when it extended the voting period during 2011 referendum on the harmonized sales tax by two weeks.

Any extension would mirror the length of time of the disruption, he said. “There has to be a material impact to voters’ ability to participate in the process. Right now mail is getting through. We don’t anticipate that our schedule will be missed.”

Attorney General David Eby said he understands from Elections BC that so far they have seen no impact on the distribution of the ballots. “If they do, they have all the tools they need to extend the voting period and I’m confident they’ll exercise the discretion wisely.”

To be counted, completed ballots and certification envelopes must be received by Elections BC by 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 30, Boegman said. “If voters are completing their packages close to the deadline, they may want to use the in-person drop-off locations rather than placing them in the mail.”

Those locations include Service BC offices throughout the province and Referendum Service Offices that are opening Nov. 5.

When counting is complete, Elections BC will report the results as soon as possible, Boegman said, noting each ballot needs to be physically prepared before they go into the tabulation machine and that the number of people working on the counting will be smaller than it would be during a general election.

Until the result is known and released, he said, “It will be a matter of weeks.”

Unlike past referenda on electoral reform, this one has become partisan. The BC Liberals are opposing the change while the NDP and Greens are campaigning in favour. Premier John Horgan and BC Green Leader Andrew Weaver are set to participate in a rally together in Victoria on Tuesday evening.

The government has put in law that if voters choose to change the electoral system, the new one would be in place for any election held after July 1, 2021.

Following the referendum, a legislative committee will need to convene and make decisions about various details of the system that’s chosen. An Electoral Boundaries Commission would also need to draw constituency boundaries.

Depending how long those steps take, it could make it difficult for Elections BC to be ready to go with a new system in 2021.

“We would need, I would say, a minimum of 14 months from whenever any new legislation would come into play,” Boegman said. “It could be tight, I agree.”