Elections BC has released a graph that shows there are still thousands of votes to be counted still in both Chilliwack and Chilliwack-Kent.
A progress report for certification envelopes released on Nov. 3 lists how many mail-in and absentee ballots have been received to date. It is not a final number, and more will be counted in the coming days.
For Chilliwack there have been at least 4,833 voting packages returned, from a total of 5,809 packages requested. For Chilliwack-Kent at least 6,863 votes have been returned, from a total of 7,320 packages requested.
In Chilliwack-Kent, the margin is razor thin, with the NDP’s Kelli Paddon holding a lead of 5,199 votes (33.31 per cent) to Laurie Throness’s 5,004 (32.06 per cent). That’s less than 200 votes and made the riding too hard to call on Election Day.
In Chilliwack, the BC NDP’s Dan Coulter ended Election Day with 4,575 votes cast (38.39 per cent) compared to BC Liberal John Martin with 3,511 (29.46 per cent), followed by Janzen’s 2,189 (18.37 per cent). Green candidate Tim Cooper had 10.86 per cent or 1,294 votes, with Independent Josue Anderson earning 205 votes over Libertarian Andrew Coombes and his 144.
Coulter has been called the preliminary winner by many media outlets, based on projections.
Elections BC has been sending out daily progress reports on how many of the vote-by-mail packages have been received. The total number of mail-in ballots received across the province is 618,707 (as of Oct. 30). Election results won’t be finalized until after Nov. 6, after those mail-in ballots are counted.
READ MORE: An unexpected orange wave hits Chilliwack and Agassiz
READ MORE: Provincial election results, riding by riding
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