The BC NDP’s Adam Walker leads incumbent Michelle Stilwell, BC Liberal Party candidate, by nearly 1,000 votes in Parksville-Qualicum, though the final result will not be known for a few weeks.
“I’m definitely excited, but there’s still at least 12,000 more ballots to count, so I’m going to wait for those to come in before I come to any conclusions,” said Walker.
Mail-in ballots are typically counted 13 days after Election Day, according to the Elections BC website, so this year the count should begin Nov. 6.
“I know that my voters came out to vote and we have almost, I think, 14,000 mail in ballots that still need to be voted — that’s half of the final call,” said Stilwell.
The preliminary results put Walker at 7,308 votes, ahead of Stilwell’s 6,366 — the BC Green Party’s Rob Lyon received 3,319, BC Conservative Don Purdey had 999 and independent candidate John St John received 378 votes.
The BC NDP are projected to win a majority once all the mail-in ballots are counted. The NDP lead in 55 ridings, the Liberals in 29 and the Greens lead in three ridings.
