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Elections BC may allow more time to cast referendum ballots due to postal strike

27% of voters have mailed in their electoral reform packages
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More than a quarter of B.C. voters have mailed in their referendum package. (Katya Slepian/Black Press Media)

With the Canada Post strike showing no signs of ending, Elections BC says it’s considering extending the deadline for submitting ballots in the electoral reform referendum.

Currently, voters have until Nov. 30 to get their ballot in with their opinion on proportional representation versus first past the post.

But Elections BC spokesperson Andrew Watson said Thursday the agency will push that date back if voters are prevented from participating through “no fault of their own.”

“We expect to make a decision soon,” Watson wrote in an email to Black Press Media Thursday. “We’re in daily contact with Canada Post and are working to understand the full impact of the rotating strikes.”

About 27 per cent of voters have mailed back their packages, even as critics of the referendum say the government has done a poor job of explaining the options to British Columbians.

Meanwhile, unionized postal workers are in their fifth week of rotating strikes around the country.

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@katslepian

katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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