West Vancouver-Sea to Sky is poised to stay red after the Greens were initially projected to win the riding following the election last month.
Although it looked like Jeremy Valeriote of the B.C. Green Party would take the riding after election day on Oct. 24, it鈥檚 apparent that Liberal incumbent Jordan Sturdy has held on to the seat now that 100 per cent of the vote has been accounted for.
Sturdy won the election by a mere 41 ballots, according to on Saturday. With mail-in ballots accounted for, Sturdy has ended up with 9,216 total votes, or 37.52 per cent of the popular vote, against 9,175 total ballots cast for Valeriote.
By the end of election day last month, with 7,019 votes and he was projected to win the riding against Sturdy鈥檚 6,415 ballots.
However, that didn鈥檛 take into account the high number of mail-in ballots that hadn鈥檛 been counted yet.
This year, mail-in votes accounted for about 18 per cent of the 42,786 voters registered in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, a massive increase from the 2017 election where only 114 ballots were mailed in for the riding.
Elections BC began , with candidates and voters alike left waiting to find out if those ballots would make a difference to the final tally.
With Sturdy looking like he has squeaked in a victory at the 11th hour, he鈥檒l continue years of Liberal dominance in the riding, which has remained red for the last three decades. 聽
Under the Election Act, a judicial recount must take place because the final vote between the two candidates is so close. The recount, and the timing of the recount, will be conducted and determined by the B.C. Supreme Court, and may include some or all of the ballots, according to Elections BC.
When reached by phone after all the votes in the riding were accounted for Saturday, Sturdy called the result a 鈥減leasant surprise鈥� but wasn鈥檛 celebrating just yet.
鈥淭here鈥檚 41 votes, come on. It鈥檚 flipped once,鈥� said Sturdy. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really too early to be declaring anything, I鈥檇 say. There鈥檚 clearly going to be a judicial recount. Obviously it鈥檚 tightened up as I thought it would.鈥�
Noting the diversity of the riding and what a pleasure it has been to serve the people of West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, Sturdy said he would hope to be able to carry on as MLA following a judicial recount.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to count it again and we鈥檒l see where we are at the end of the week,鈥� he said.
Had Valeriote been elected, his seat would have been a first in the Lower Mainland for the Green Party, and his win would have secured official party status for the provincial Greens.
Valeriote said that the flip was unexpected, but he hadn鈥檛 made any assumptions of victory.
鈥淚 was surprised but I hadn鈥檛 taken anything for granted so I knew it wasn鈥檛 over until all the votes were counted,鈥� he said.
Valeriote added that for the immediate future, he hasn鈥檛 decided on what the next steps are. When reached by The Chief on Monday he said was undecided as to whether he would be an observer for the recount.
He said he and his family were doing fine, though it was a little bit difficult to explain the situation to his six-year-olds.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e not entirely aware of the complexities,鈥� he said, noting that it鈥檚 hard to lay out the mail-in voting system to young children.
As Valeriote waits, he has a message for people in Squamish.
鈥淭hank you for your votes. Thank you for your support,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e all have to sit tight and wait for the recount. Appreciate everyone鈥檚 patience. Appreciate everyone who voted...it鈥檚 good for democracy.鈥�
- With files from Jane Seyd (North Shore 劲爆大瓜), Steven Chua and Jennifer Thuncher (The 劲爆大瓜)
