With much of the world’s attention on mail-in ballots for the U.S. election this week, Elections B.C. is getting set for the province’s own mail-in ballot count to start on Friday.
In the four North Shore ridings, over a third of the ballots cast in the election are yet to be counted: almost 65,000 people voted on election day and in the advance polls, but over 37,000 voters cast ballots through the mail.
Candidates and voters alike are waiting to find out if those mail-in ballots make a difference to the final tally.
Counting of the mail-in ballots begins at 10 a.m. on Nov. 6 and results will be updated as counting continues, according to Elections B.C.
On the North Shore, the closest race is the one in West Vancouver Sea to Sky, where Green candidate Jeremy Valeriote is looking to secure his upset victory over the Liberals’ Jordan Sturdy. Valeriote is leading by 604 votes: 7,019 to 6,415 with 17,744 votes cast. If that holds when the mail-in votes are counted, Valeriote will become the first Green Party candidate to be officially elected in the Lower Mainland and will secure party status for the Greens. A total of 6,972 mail-in ballots received have yet to be counted.
In North Vancouver Seymour, where the NDP’s Susie Chant beat Liberal Jane Thornthwaite by 1,543 votes on election night – 7,384 to 5,841 – in another upset victory, there are 10,368 mail-in ballots to be counted.
In North Vancouver Lonsdale, incumbent NDP MLA Bowinn Ma reclaimed victory by a wide margin on election night, with 4,959 more votes than Liberal challenger Lyn Anglin. There are 9,972 mail-in votes to count there, compared to 16,676 cast in person.
In West Vancouver Capilano, Liberal Karin Kirkpatrick also has a wide 3,532 vote lead over the NDP’s Amelia Hill. Over 14,000 ballots were cast in person in that riding, while 9,818 mail-in ballots are still to be counted.
The final count for the province is expected to take up to three days, according to Elections B.C.
