NDP candidate Gary Holman increased his lead to 92 votes over his Liberal rival in the first day of counting absentee and special ballots in Saanich North and the Islands.
Holman had been sitting at a 47-vote lead after a recount Monday, but began to pull ahead Tuesday with less than half the approximately 2,500 absentee and special ballots counted.
“It’s a somewhat wider [lead],” Holman said. “But it’s still a long way to go.”
Ballot counting continued Tuesday night, with the campaigns estimating about 1,000 ballots would remain this morning.
The final count involves tallying ballots that were not counted toward the total on election night.
Those ballots include votes cast outside the electoral district, from the district electoral office, mail-in ballots and special ballots from hospitals and long-term care facilities.
“It’s going to be so darn close,” said Liberal candidate Stephen P. Roberts.
The riding could be subject to a judicial recount. The district electoral officer must apply for a judicial recount if the difference between the top two candidates is less than 0.02 per cent of the total ballots — estimated to be about 60-70 votes in the case of Saanich North and the Islands.
The gap between Holman and B.C. Green candidate Adam Olsen narrowed by 29 to 353 votes.
“I’m still further back of Holman than I’d like, but closer to both of them,” Olsen said. “We haven’t quite got there, but we’re getting closer.”
Elsewhere in B.C., Jane Shin, the controversial NDP candidate in Burnaby-Lougheed, defeated Liberal Ken Kramer by 743 votes.
NDP candidate Selina Mae Robinson defeated Liberal Steve Kim by 35 votes in Coquitlam-Maillardville. That triggered a judicial recount, which will occur later in B.C. Supreme Court, Elections B.C. confirmed.
The NDP’s Robin Austin win a tight race in Skeena over B.C. Liberal Carol Leclerc by 522 votes.
The final count also confirmed NDP candidate Dave Eby’s win over Liberal Leader Christy Clark in Vancouver-Point Grey.
— With files from Vancouver Sun
