BC VOTES: NDP candidate’s lead in B.C. election in Chilliwack widens as mail-in ballots counted

As mail-in ballots are counted Saturday (Nov. 6) in B.C.’s provincial election, nothing is likely to change in the Chilliwack riding as the NDP’s Dan Coulter has a strong lead over BC Liberal incumbent John Martin.

Coulter’s nine per cent lead after Election Day (Oct. 24) actually expanded slightly to 10 per cent as of mid-day Saturday.

Live Results (Updated Saturday, 12:10 p.m.)

Dan Coulter (NDP): 5,510

John Martin (BC Liberal - incumbent): 4,110

Diane Janzen (BC Conservative): 2,510

Tim Cooper (Green): 1,505

Josue Anderson (Independent): 227

Andrew Coombes (Libertarian): 164

In the Chilliwack riding, there were at least 5,058 voting packages to be counted, and that process began at 10 a.m. on Friday. Votes from 11,920 people in that riding were already counted on election day.

As it stood after Election Day, Coulter earned 4,575 of those votes, or 38.39 per cent.

Incumbent Martin earned 3,511, or 29.46 per cent.

Janzen earned 2,189, or 18.37 per cent.

Cooper had 10.86 per cent or 1,294 votes. Anderson earned 205 votes, and Coombes earned 144.

Coulter was already been called the preliminary winner based on projections.

The number to be counted in the Chilliwack riding is fairly small compared to some others. The largest number is in Victoria-Beacon Hill, with 16,696 mail-in ballots – more than were tallied on election day.

Elections BC explains there are several different types of absentee ballots that are counted at final count, including ballots cast at district electoral offices and ballots cast outside the voter’s electoral district of residence. Results will be updated on the Elections BC website on an ongoing basis during the counting process, and at the end of each counting day. Counting is expected to continue until 6 p.m. each day until final count is complete, but counting hours may vary by district to ensure that final count is completed as soon as possible.

Results are available on the Elections BC website under the Provincial Elections tab.

READ MORE: Thousands of votes waiting to be counted in Chilliwack ridings

Watch this story for updates.