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2020 British Columbia general election
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2020 British Columbia general election
The 2020 British Columbia general election was held on October 24, 2020, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 42nd parliament of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The incumbent New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) won a majority government, making John Horgan the first leader in the history of the BC NDP to win a second consecutive term as premier. The incoming Legislature marked the first time the NDP commanded an outright majority government in BC since the 1996 election, as well as the first province-wide popular vote win for the party since 1991.
Horgan called a snap election on September 21, 2020, the first early election in the province since the 1986 election. Horgan argued the call for an election a year before it was due was necessary because he was governing with a minority of seats in the Legislative Assembly. His decision was criticized by both the NDP's confidence and supply partner, the British Columbia Green Party, and the province's Official Opposition, the British Columbia Liberal Party, as opportunistic.
Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson resigned two days after the election but remained as leader until November 23.
This election took place under first-past-the-post rules, as proportional representation had been rejected with 61.3% voting against it in the 2018 referendum.
Section 23 of British Columbia's Constitution Act provides that general elections occur on a fixed date of the fourth calendar year after the last election. The fixed election date was previously set for the second Tuesday in May – tentatively making the next election date May 12, 2021, but the BC NDP passed legislation in 2017 amending the section of the constitution to change the fixed election date to the third Saturday in October. Section 23 also indicates the fixed election date is subject to the lieutenant governor's prerogative to dissolve the Legislative Assembly as they see fit (in practice, on the advice of the premier or following a vote of non-confidence).
This prerogative was exercised on September 21, 2020, when Premier John Horgan called a snap election, thus dissolving the 41st Parliament. The writ of election was issued the same day, commencing a 32-day campaign. This was the first election in BC not to have been held on a set date in May since fixed-date elections had been introduced via amendments to the Constitution Act passed by the Liberal government under Gordon Campbell shortly after the Liberals came into power subsequent to the 2001 election. It was also the first time a BC government had gone to the polls before the expiration of its mandate since the Social Credit government under Bill Vander Zalm called an early election in 1986.
This election was the second Canadian provincial election held during the COVID-19 pandemic, after the September 2020 election in New Brunswick – also a snap election. Due to the pandemic, more than 720,000 people requested mail-in ballots. Elections BC expected that 35 to 40 percent of ballots would be sent by mail, compared to 1 percent historically. Advance voting took place between October 15 and 21, with more than 681,000 people voting ahead of the election date.
Due to the significant increase in mail-in voting, the full results of the election were not known until November 8; the results of the judicial recount held in one constituency, West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, were only known on November 17.
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2020 British Columbia general election
The 2020 British Columbia general election was held on October 24, 2020, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 42nd parliament of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The incumbent New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) won a majority government, making John Horgan the first leader in the history of the BC NDP to win a second consecutive term as premier. The incoming Legislature marked the first time the NDP commanded an outright majority government in BC since the 1996 election, as well as the first province-wide popular vote win for the party since 1991.
Horgan called a snap election on September 21, 2020, the first early election in the province since the 1986 election. Horgan argued the call for an election a year before it was due was necessary because he was governing with a minority of seats in the Legislative Assembly. His decision was criticized by both the NDP's confidence and supply partner, the British Columbia Green Party, and the province's Official Opposition, the British Columbia Liberal Party, as opportunistic.
Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson resigned two days after the election but remained as leader until November 23.
This election took place under first-past-the-post rules, as proportional representation had been rejected with 61.3% voting against it in the 2018 referendum.
Section 23 of British Columbia's Constitution Act provides that general elections occur on a fixed date of the fourth calendar year after the last election. The fixed election date was previously set for the second Tuesday in May – tentatively making the next election date May 12, 2021, but the BC NDP passed legislation in 2017 amending the section of the constitution to change the fixed election date to the third Saturday in October. Section 23 also indicates the fixed election date is subject to the lieutenant governor's prerogative to dissolve the Legislative Assembly as they see fit (in practice, on the advice of the premier or following a vote of non-confidence).
This prerogative was exercised on September 21, 2020, when Premier John Horgan called a snap election, thus dissolving the 41st Parliament. The writ of election was issued the same day, commencing a 32-day campaign. This was the first election in BC not to have been held on a set date in May since fixed-date elections had been introduced via amendments to the Constitution Act passed by the Liberal government under Gordon Campbell shortly after the Liberals came into power subsequent to the 2001 election. It was also the first time a BC government had gone to the polls before the expiration of its mandate since the Social Credit government under Bill Vander Zalm called an early election in 1986.
This election was the second Canadian provincial election held during the COVID-19 pandemic, after the September 2020 election in New Brunswick – also a snap election. Due to the pandemic, more than 720,000 people requested mail-in ballots. Elections BC expected that 35 to 40 percent of ballots would be sent by mail, compared to 1 percent historically. Advance voting took place between October 15 and 21, with more than 681,000 people voting ahead of the election date.
Due to the significant increase in mail-in voting, the full results of the election were not known until November 8; the results of the judicial recount held in one constituency, West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, were only known on November 17.