UPDATE: 10:15 p.m.
Roly Russell of the NDP has been elected as the new MLA in Boundary-Similkameen, a riding previously held by the BC Liberal Party. Russell won 2,935 out of 5,764 counted votes (50.92 per cent) with 45 of 99 polls reporting.
Petra Veintimilla of the BC Liberal Party won 1,967 votes (34.13 per cent). Darryl Seres of the Conservative party won 732 votes (12.70 per cent). Arlyn Greig of the Wexit BC party won 130 votes (2.26 per cent).
As of 10:03 p.m., The Canadian Press is projecting the BC NDP has won a majority government. The party has won or is leading in 54 of 87 seats. The BC Liberal Party has won or is leading in 30, and the BC Green Party has won or is leading in three seats.
As of Oct. 23, 5,193 vote-by-mail packages had been issued to registered voters in the riding. There are a total of 33,266 registered voters in Boundary-Similkameen.
Provincewide, 724,279 mail-in ballots have been sent out, and there are 3,485,858 registered voters.
Mail-in ballots will be counted by hand, starting in 13 days.
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Voting for the 2020 provincial election is over, but because of the number of mail-in ballots this year, the final vote tally will not be completed for some time.
Polls were open for general voting on Oct. 24 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with advance voting from Oct. 15 to Oct. 21.
The results so far will be preliminary, until all of the ballots can be counted.
This year, there were four candidates in the riding of Boundary Similkameen. They were Arlyn Greig of Wexit BC, Roly Russell of the B.C. New Democratic Party, Darryl Seres of the Conservative Party and Petra Veintimilla of the B.C. Liberal Party.
Since the 2013 election the riding had been represented by Linda Larson of the B.C. Liberals. Larson declared that she would not be running again after the last election in 2017.
There are 36,593 registered voters in the riding of Boundary-Similkameen.
Around one-seventh, or 5,193 voters, had requested and received mail-in packages. This election also saw 10,791 early votes cast.
According to Elections BC, the final vote count will begin on Friday, Nov. 6, when all absentee ballots are counted.
Province-wide, there are 3,485,858 registered voters in British Columbia. Mail-in packages were issued to 724,279 voters.
Return day, when writs of election are returned to the Chief Electoral Officer, is scheduled for Nov. 16, but may be later if the final count takes longer.
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