BC Election Turnout Falls to Record-Low 48.06%

Fewer than half of registered British Columbians cast ballots in the 2026 provincial election, according to preliminary Elections BC results, producing the lowest turnout in the province’s recorded provincial-election history.

Turnout stands at 48.06 per cent, well below about 58.5 per cent in 2024 and 53.86 per cent in 2020. The election also delivered a sharp change in government: the BC Conservatives won a significant majority, unseating former premier David Eby’s BC NDP after nine years in office.

A record-low provincial turnout

The 48.06 per cent figure is the lowest in B.C. provincial election history, at least since 1928. It means only about half of registered voters took part in an election called early by Eby, with the vote set for a date shortly after Sept. 22.

The results remain preliminary. Elections BC was still counting ballots, including mail-in ballots, absentee ballots and ballots cast through assisted telephone voting.

But the early turnout number has already prompted questions about why so many voters did not participate, particularly in an election that ended with a majority government and the defeat of an incumbent party.

Election timing drew scrutiny

The provincial campaign came one week after municipal elections, an unusual overlap that multiple observers said contributed to voter fatigue and confusion.

The timing meant voters were asked to follow two campaigns in quick succession, as municipal and provincial campaigns competed for often overlapping pools of volunteers. The provincial vote took place after Eby called an early election, despite the NDP having been in government for nine years.

The municipal results offer a contrasting picture. Turnout was higher than it had been in 2022, including in Vancouver, where 43.4 per cent of voters participated, compared with 36.3 per cent four years earlier. Provincewide municipal turnout was 32.8 per cent.

Meggs says NDP campaign failed to persuade voters

Geoff Meggs, chief of staff to former NDP premier John Horgan, told The Globe and Mail that many NDP voters appeared to have stayed home.

“Dave Eby’s campaign angered them. They were never persuaded by his arguments in favour of an election,” Meggs said.

He said the NDP campaign did not clearly underline the party’s achievements or persuade voters with its proposals. “He didn’t campaign on the very real achievements of the NDP over the years since 2017 and proposed things that didn’t resonate with British Columbians,” Meggs said.

The Conservatives, meanwhile, emerged with a significant majority government after running against an NDP government led by Eby.

Several factors in low participation

Sanjay Jeram, a political science lecturer at Simon Fraser University, told CBC that voter disillusionment with the NDP and Eby may have contributed to the low turnout. He also pointed to the Conservatives’ relatively safe campaign and soggy weather as possible factors.

“The way things turned out with the Conservatives running a relatively safe campaign, I think people who just felt comfortable ... or not concerned or scared by the Conservative leader, just decided to stay home,” Jeram said.

Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, told The Globe and Mail that turnout tends to be higher when voters believe something important is at stake, leaders seem viable and competent, and the race appears close.

Those observations do not settle any single explanation for B.C.’s historic low. But the preliminary numbers leave a clear measure of the challenge: a majority government was elected while fewer than half of registered voters cast a ballot.

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