Vernon-Monashee NDP candidate takes lead, but ballots are still being counted

Thousands of mail-in and absentee ballots are being counted across the province and, so far, Vernon Monashee is the riding that has seen a change in its potential MLA.

Elections BC had about 660,000 ballots to count and while a handful of ridings had been completed by last night, the results hadn't changed from election night.

Four ridings were too close to call on election day: Abbotsford-Mission, Chilliwack-Kent, Richmond-South Centre and Vernon-Monashee.

Vernon Monahsee NDP candidate Harwinder Sandhu has been racing neck and neck with Liberal incumbent Eric Foster and managed to change the tide last night, Nov. 6. Currently, Elections B.C. is reporting that Sandu has 35.1 per cent of the vote, close to Foster's 34.9.

Sandhu's campaign manager Tracie Mundy said ballots are still being counted in eight ballot boxes Nov. 7 and another three will be counted tomorrow, meaning that ballots counts will likely not be completed until around 12 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8.

If Harwinder wins, this will be a historic moment for the riding, where an NDP MLA has never held a seat.

 – With files from The Canadian Press

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