Nearly 29,000 eligible voters in Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola cast their ballots during advance voting

KAMLOOPS — The newly redrawn riding of Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola saw a significantly high turnout for advance voting ahead of the 2025 federal election.

Preliminary numbers from Elections Canada show 29,000 residents in Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola cast their ballot over four days of advance voting, representing 33 per cent of eligible voters. Easter Monday was the busiest of the quarter of advanced voting days for the riding.

• Friday, April 18 — 7,500
• Saturday, April 19 – 6,000
• Sunday, April 20 – 5,000
• Monday, April 21 – 8,600

Geoff Collier, returning officer for Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola, says the former Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding had nearly 110,000 registered electors. Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola has just under 90,000 following the redrawing.

“The Interior of British Columbia now has more political power than it had before the redrawing,” Collier says. “Kamloops is now a real city that has more than one representative. Everybody’s vote counts for a little bit more.”

Ahead of election day Monday, April 28, Collier says residents looking to avoid lineups are recommended to vote in the middle of the morning or the middle of the afternoon, noting Elections Canada experiences spikes at the start of the day and around 4:00 p.m.

However, he says election officers have learned their job and gotten quicker over the four days of advance voting.

“We can’t guarantee that you’re not going to be waiting anyway,” Collier says. “If turnouts are very high, if we get over 70 per cent, it’s going to be busy. Get out and vote and be patient. The process is what the process has to be to guarantee the accuracy and security of the vote. You can’t rush doing things right and Elections Canada does things right.”