A new poll shows that the BC NDP’s lead may be shrinking as the election nears its conclusion with general voting day on October 24.
The latest survey from the Angus Reid Institute shows the incumbent party at 45 per cent, down from 49 per cent support in their previous result.
The BC Liberals have inched up two points from 33 per cent to 35 per cent, and the BC Greens have also picked up two points, to land at 16 per cent.
The race is also much tighter among voters who have yet to cast their ballot: 35 per cent who have not yet voted support the NDP, compared to 34 per cent for the Liberals and 15 per cent for the Greens.
However, 45 per cent of respondents said they had already cast their vote, either by mail or in person, and of those advance voters 51 per cent said they voted NDP, compared to 33 per cent for the Liberals and 14 per cent for the Greens.
As of October 18, 383,477 people had voted in advance polls and more than 700,000 mail-in ballots had been requested.
On Tuesday, the BC Liberal party accused the NDP of “suppressing” the vote.
“The NDP’s unnecessary pandemic election has raised the question if John Horgan and the NDP did this purposefully to suppress voter turnout to their advantage,” candidate Teresa Wat said in a statement.
Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson echoed that message at a campaign stop in Surrey Tuesday morning.
“We’re coming across this all across British Columbia, where NDP candidates are not pushing out people to vote,” Wilkinson said.
When pressed to provide examples of how the NDP are not encouraging people to vote, the Liberal leader said the incumbent party was “failing to show up.”
“What that suggests to us is that they’re not really interested in having a big voter turnout,” Wilkinson said.
The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey from October 16 – 19, 2020 among a representative randomized sample of 1,201 British Columbia adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
