Advance voting turnout up in two Kamloops ridings: Elections BC

“If you don’t vote, you can’t make a change for anything,” said one resident outside of the polling station at St. Paul’s Cathedral. “You got to have your word out there, but I always go early and beat the crowds.”

Kamloops-North Thompson saw a larger gap, with 1,898 more votes cast from the 10,563 ballots in 2024 to 12,461 in 2026.

However, the story changes when looking at other ridings in the area, where voters seemed slightly less enthusiastic to show up at advance polling.

While Salmon Arm-Shuswap had the highest advance polling turnout in the region with 13,589 ballots cast, this is still down by 473 votes compared to the 14,062 in 2024.

In Cariboo-Chilcotin, 8,283 voters came out to the polls in 2026, down by just 190 compared to 2024’s 8,473 advance voters.

Lastly, 888 fewer voters turned out in the 2026 advance polling in Fraser-Nicola, where 7,823 people voted before general voting day this year, while 8,711 turned up in 2024.

Across B.C., 891,348 people attended early polling this year, down from 953,025 advance votes in 2024.

Voters will still have one more opportunity to cast their ballots in person on general voting day on Saturday (Oct. 24).

by Elora McCormack

Advance voting turnout up in two Kamloops ridings: Elections BC

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