Lana Popham of the NDP was re-elected as MLA in Saanich South according to preliminary results Oct. 24. As of 11:30 p.m., Popham had received 7,641 out of 14,684 counted votes (52.04 per cent) with results from 90 of 92 polls reporting.

Rishi Sharma of the BC Liberal Party, with 3,667 votes, held a slim lead over Kate O’Connor of the Green Party (3,376) in second spot.

“I did have a lot of great conversations about the confidence people had in how the government was handling the pandemic,” Popham said just before midnight Saturday. “I really think that had a lot to do with the result the party had tonight.”

While she won’t accept the results as final until the mail-in ballots are counted by hand after Nov. 6, Popham said the preliminary results stemmed from her trying hard to connect with voters on issues of local importance. Those included fixing the water quality in Elk and Beaver lakes – the province is matching funding with the CRD to install an oxygenator that will reduce annual blooms of blue green algae.

Campaigning in a pandemic meant a lot more phone calls to constituents than face-to-face conversations and Popham said it gave her a chance to speak more in-depth about issues with people.

Sharma said it was “disheartening to see the [preliminary] numbers” showing Popham with the majority. A significant number of mail-in ballots remain to be counted, he said, adding many of those voters are older adults who wanted to avoid polling places amid the pandemic – a demographic he “zeroed in on” while campaigning.

“Out of respect for those who voted by mail,” Sharma said he won’t be conceding. While he felt the snap election was a “sly fox move” that left other parties playing catch-up, Sharma congratulated the B.C. NDP on a strong campaign.

Just before 10 p.m. on election night O’Connor told Black Press Media she was watching the results come in along with everyone else. Though she was “disappointed” official results won’t be available for some time, O’Connor is pleased to have had the opportunity to show voters of all ages that “young people can and should have a place in politics” – a message she feels has resonated.

The 18-year-old added that her goal throughout the election has been to emphasize the importance of “intergenerational leadership” and “challenge people’s idea of who should be in politics.”

As of Oct. 23, 14,230 vote-by-mail packages had been issued to registered voters in Saanich South, where there are 38,954 registered voters.

Early voting for the 2020 provincial election has broken records, according to data released by Elections BC Thursday (Oct. 22).