Here’s a breakdown of how and why British Columbians voted in the 2024 election

With the 2024 BC provincial election having taken place a few days ago with no clear winner announced, a BC-based polling firm sought answers from voters as to how and why they voted. 

According to the Research Co. survey, most voters’ ballots were cast based on the ideals and policies of the contending political parties with 65% saying that was the most important influence on them. 

Most BC voters put more emphasis on the parties’ leaders (44%) than the candidates in their area, who would ultimately represent their own electoral district (22%). 

Additionally, more people voted with stability in mind (36%), rather than change (33%), but only by a thin margin. 

The aspect of this election that was the least important to voters when it came time to cast their ballots was disgust with contending candidates (12%), according to the survey. 

Research Co. also asked voters when they had decided who they would cast their ballots for as of October 21st. 

According to respondents, 53% had already decided who they would vote for before September 21st, the beginning of the campaign. 

Meanwhile, 19% said they decided between September 21st and October 8th (the day before the televised debate) and 20% said they decided after the debate. 

Related:

• BC’s final election results may not be determined until next week due to recounts

Sometimes hindsight is better than foresight, so Research Co. asked respondents how they would feel about a variety of outcome scenarios, now that the vote is done, but no party has been declared a winner. 

According to the survey, people would be happiest with a BC NDP majority (52%) or a minority government (48%).

The Conservative Party of BC got less love from respondents who say that only 43% would be happy with a Conservative majority and 34% saying they would be happy with a Conservative minority. 

Respondents were also asked how positive each political parties’ messaging came across during the campaign period. 

According to respondents, the BC NDP’s campaign was the most positive (55%), with the BC Green Party close behind (51%) and the Conservatives trailing (43%). 

Lastly, Research Co. asked respondents a series of hypothetical questions which got some interesting results. 

Voters were asked if they think the leaders of the BC NDP and BC Conservatives should resign. 

To this, 44% said they believe Premier David Eby should resign as leader of the BC NDP and 43% said John Rustad should resign as leader of the BC Conservatives. 

Additionally, 44% of respondents said they think the BC NDP and BC Greens should merge into a single party. 

Even though the Research Co. ‘exit poll’ shows a bit more love for the BC NDP than the Conservatives, the results remain too close to call a winner of the election. 

According to Elections BC, a winner should be made clear after their final count, by Monday, October 28th at the latest. 

How do you feel about the pending results of the election? Are there any hypothetical situations you’d like to see come to fruition? 

Let us know in the comments.