VOTERS are quite rightly concerned about the integrity of our elections because the very survival of our democracy hinges on a free and fair voting system that they can truly trust.

That is all the more compelling given the wild conspiracy theories that are rampant on social media, but careful research shows that Elections BC has spared no effort to safeguard the integrity of our elections. We took a look at the new processes and technology that will be used for the 2024 provincial election, which include:

• Laptops (instead of paper lists) will be used to look up voters and cross them off the voters list. This reduces line-ups at voting places, makes the voting process more efficient, and helps voters vote at any voting place.
• Electronic tabulators will be used to count voter-marked paper ballots. This helps election officials count paper ballots quickly and accurately, and report results faster on election night.

These changes not only provide better service to voters (such as reduced lineups at voting places and faster results reporting on election night), but they are also protected by comprehensive security measures and safeguards.

For example, Elections BC has a comprehensive quality assurance (QA) program in place to ensure all votes are counted accurately.

The QA program includes logic and accuracy testing of tabulators before and after they are used. These tests are conducted by feeding a set of ballots through a tabulator and confirming that the tabulator produces the expected result. A key feature of these tests is that some of the ballots in the test deck are marked at the time of the test by candidate representatives, so the expected outcome is not known by anyone until the test is underway and results cannot be falsified.

In addition to logic and accuracy testing, the QA process includes a hand count of the ballots from a randomly selected tabulator in every electoral district. The tabulator selected for the hand count is chosen randomly at the time of the test.

The QA program also includes ballot reconciliation, which means that all ballots issued to election officials have been accounted for, and that ballots issued to voters reconcile to vote totals from tabulators.

Additionally, all paper ballots are retained after they have been counted, allowing Elections BC to audit results or perform recounts (by hand) in close races.

We delved deeper into what Elections BC is doing to protect the integrity of the 2024 provincial election, and here is what we came across:

• Elections BC has established an Election Integrity Working Group (including provincial and federal agencies with expertise in cybersecurity, law enforcement and intelligence services) to respond to evolving risks to election integrity.
• Elections BC uses “gold-standard” election processes, such as voter-marked paper ballots. (Paper ballots cannot be “hacked”.)

They also enforce election legislation to ensure a fair and level-playing field for political participants. This include ensuring candidates, political parties and third-party advertisers adhere to the rules for political contributions, expense limits, advertising, and financial disclosure reports.

Voters can also prepare for the upcoming provincial election. Some steps you can take include:

• Visiting the Elections BC website for accurate, up-to-date information about how elections work in B.C., as well as tips for fact-checking online content that may contain misinformation or disinformation about election processes.
• Making sure your voter registration is up to date, by visiting bc.ca/register or by calling 1-800-661-8683.

Eligible voters in British Columbians are Canadian citizens who are 18 years or older and have been a B.C. resident for the past six months.