The polls have closed and while final numbers are not expected for a couple of weeks, the current front-runner for the Surrey South riding is Stephanie Cadieux.
At of 10:15 p.m. – with 94 of 100 ballot boxes reported – Canadian Press has projected victory for Cadieux, who led with 5,910 votes, followed by NPD candidate Pauline Greaves with 5,442 votes and Green Party candidate Tim Ibbotson with 1,262 votes.
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Cadieux told Peace Arch News Sunday that, out of respect for the other candidates in her riding, she will not be commenting on the results of the election until the mail-in votes are counted.
First elected MLA for Surrey-Panorama in 2009, then for Surrey-Cloverdale in 2013, Cadieux won the Surrey South seat in 2017 with 50 per cent of the votes. That year, 59.9 per cent of registered voters voted.
In a pre-election interview earlier this month, the 47-year-old Cadieux told Peace Arch News that she was proud of her track record both in the local community and for the province as a whole – citing the single-parent employment initiative which “helped thousands of parents move off income assistance and into the workforce so they can support their families”; and, finding homes for a “record number” of children in care that were waiting for adoption as examples – and named her equal-pay legislation as among priority items on her list of unfinished business.
Greaves’ campaign manager Tom Ewasiuk told PAN Friday (Oct. 23) that Greaves would be watching the returns from home with her family, but as the results will not be conclusive, “we don’t expect to be making any statements on the outcome on the 24th,” Ewasiuk said in an emailed statement.
In Surrey and White Rock, 68,396 residents were issued mail-in ballots. That’s about 19 per cent of the 356,896 registered voters.
Out of Surrey’s nine ridings, the most mail-in ballots were issued to Surrey South, with 12,703 ballots for the 52,202 registered voters. That’s about 24 per cent of voters being issued packages. Voters who cast their ballots in advance numbered 9,245 (18 per cent).
Students who participated in the Student Vote program also voted for Cadieux in Surrey South. In that program, according to a news release, students cast ballots for the candidates in their school’s electoral district after learning about government and the election process, researching the parties and platforms, and debating the future of B.C.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to the ongoing pandemic, Elections BC estimates that roughly 35 per cent of voters used mail-in ballots, which will be counted beginning on Nov. 6. This means that tonight’s election results may change.
More to come…
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