Counting of the mail-in and absentee ballots from British Columbia’s election continued Saturday with one change.
Elections BC had about 660,000 ballots to count beginning Friday, and while a handful of ridings had been completed by Saturday evening. Of the nearly 660,000 ballots, roughly 160,000 ballots are from Vancouver Island ridings.
There were four ridings that were too close to call when the NDP government secured a majority mandate on Oct. 24: Abbotsford-Mission, Chilliwack-Kent, Richmond-South Centre and Vernon-Monashee.
West Vancouver-Sea to Sky riding was also considered by some to be close.
Jeremy Valeriote of the Green Party was leading in that riding, however, as of Saturday evening, it appeared to have flipped to Liberal candidate Jordan Sturdy.
Valeriote is now behind Sturdy, who is the incumbent, by 41 votes, according to Election BC’s website.
The Green Party issued a statement Saturday saying that recount in the riding is expected.
“We will wait for the official recount to determine the result for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky. Jeremy Valeriote is an excellent candidate and the close results in his riding show that the people of West Vancouver-Sea to Sky are hoping for a more sustainable and equitable future for their community. Every election, more and more voters have chosen to vote Green – that is cause for celebration and we will continue to work with the community to come out strong next time.”
Elsewhere, the NDP managed to steal Abbotsford-Mission and Vernon-Monashee ridings from Liberal candidates. The NDP also appear to have held onto seats in Chilliwack-Kent and Richmond South Centre.
The results on election night gave the New Democrats 53 seats, the Liberals 27, the Greens three.
Elections BC spokesman Andrew Watson said the agency hopes to complete the count in all ridings by Sunday, but conceded that may not be feasible.
MORE: Outcome of B.C. election won’t shift much with mail-in ballots: expert
The Canadian Press
