B.C. Election: Political scientist addresses misinformation around ballot tampering during advanced voting week

A UBC professor is quashing online chatter about the idea of ballot-tampering in the B.C. election.

This comes after claims an Elections BC official took home unmarked ballots for secure storage during advanced voting — a practice that is permitted under specific circumstances, according to the elections authority.

The organization says unused ballots and ballot boxes are typically returned to a district office for secure storage, but may be stored at an official’s home in areas where the distance is too great for supervisors to return at night during the voting process.

Political science lecturer Stewart Prest says unmarked ballots being stored at an official’s home is part of voting in small rural communities.

“The chain of custody that Elections BC puts in place in those situations runs through individual officials who are deemed to be trustworthy of that responsibility,” Prest said.

“In the end, our entire electoral process ultimately rests on our ability and our willingness to trust that those put in positions to oversee elections are carrying out their duties effectively.”

Prest says there are ways the process could be centralized that would decrease the burden on officials, but it would come at the cost of becoming less accessible to those living in remote areas.

“And so it’s always going to be a balancing act and a trade-off,” he said.

“It’s one of those areas where good judgment is going to be an inevitable part of administering an election.

The elections authority says it is an offence to tamper with election materials and could result in a $10,000 fine and or a year in jail.

It also stresses each ballot issued to a voting place is tightly controlled and accounted for.

With files from Emma Crawford and Srushti Gangdev.