NDP candidate Katrine Conroy has been declared the winner for Kootenay West in Saturday’s provincial election.
Conroy has represented the West Kootenay in the B.C. Legislature since 2005.
During her last term in office she was the Minister of Children and Family Development and the minister responsible for the Columbia River Treaty.
In the 2017 B.C. election Conroy received almost 60 per cent of the vote. In the 2013 election she received 63 per cent.
“I am humbled and honoured to represent such a great constituency,” said Conroy on Sunday after she had been declared the winner.
Total votes with all polls reporting:
Katrine Conroy (NDP) — 8234 (59%)
Andrew Duncan (Green) — 2440 (18%)
Glen Byle (Conservative) — 1253 (9%)
Corbin Kelley (Liberal) — 1610 (12%)
Ed Varney (Independent) — 197 (1%)
Fletcher Quince (Independent) — 153 (1%)
RELATED: B.C. VOTES 2020 MAP: Provincial election results, riding by riding
While half a million mail-in ballots are yet to be counted, preliminary election night results give the NDP a majority government with 55 seats, a 14-seat gain over 2017. The BC Liberals received 29 seats, a 12-seat drop since 2017, while the BC Greens won three, same as in 2017.
Due to the pandemic, more British Columbians have decided to vote by mail-in ballot than ever before. Election results won’t be finalized until after Nov. 6., when those mail-in ballots are counted.
An estimated number of 4111 mail-in ballots were requested from Elections BC within the Kootenay West riding. There are 33,192 registered voters in the region.
Across B.C., a total of 497,900 mail-in ballots were returned to Election BC, as of Friday, Oct. 23.
There are roughly 3.5 million registered voters in the province.
According to Elections BC, 5874 Kootenay West residents voted during the advance voting phase. That is approximately 18 per cent of the riding’s 33,192 registered voters.
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.
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