British Columbia Assembly Elections, October 2024

Floods, October 2024    

A powerful atmospheric river brought heavy rainfall to coastal British Columbia, making landfall on 18 October 2024. Southern Vancouver Island recorded up to 300 millimeters (12 inches) of rain between 18-20 October, while the Vancouver metropolitan area on the mainland received up to 150 millimeters (6 inches). According to news reports, the intense rainfall overwhelmed the city’s storm drain system, resulting in widespread flooding (NASA, 2024; Chan et al., 2024). Also, the storm caused numerous trees and branches to fall on power lines, causing further disruptions (CBC News, 2024). In total two persons died because of mudslides (Weather Network 2024). In one scientific report, climate change is said to contribute to atmospheric river flood damage in the western United States (Corringham, 2022).    

Impact on electoral processes 

The storm struck British Columbia on election day, creating significant challenges for voters as many roads became flooded, making access to several polling stations difficult. In total, three polling stations remained closed throughout election day due to sustained power outages, while several others experienced temporary closures due to flooding and fallen trees on power lines (Elections BC, n.d.). 

In Langley and on the Gulf Islands, power outages meant that voters had to cast their ballots manually, with the ballots being fed into electronic tabulators once power was restored (Gandham, Y., 2024). According to Elections BC, the manual voting process ensured that voting could continue despite the outages, with ballots being processed electronically once power returned (CTV News, 2024).  

Changes in procedures   

In Maple Ridge, voters were redirected to other polling locations, while residents in Dease Lake were urged to use assisted-telephone voting—a method typically reserved for voters with health conditions—due to the storm preventing election officials from reaching the polling station (Egan-Elliott, R., 2024). 

Voter turnout 

The preliminary voter turnout for the 2024 assembly election was 57.43%. This is a slight increase compared to 2020, when the voter turnout was 53.86% (Elections BC, n.d.).