Wednesday, January 30, 2019 ~ NANAIMO
~ West Shore Voice News
UPDATE at 11:15 pm Jan 30: All 111 ballot box counts have been reported. The final number of votes cast in the Nanaimo by-election was 21,410 (a turnout of 47.2% of the 45,359 registered voters). Winning candidate Sheila Malcolmson achieved 10,538 votes (49.22% of the popular vote) with runner-up BC Liberal candidate Tony Harris showing 8,665 votes (40.47%). Green Party Candidate Michele Ney received 1,579 votes (7.38%).
As of 9:50 pm, West Shore Voice News declared BC NDP candidate Sheila Malcolmson as winning the Nanaimo provincial by-election this evening, January 30.
With 69 of 111 polls at reported at 9:50 pm (11,770 votes cast), Malcolmson had 48.52% of the popular vote (5,711 votes cast).
She will join the other NDP MLAs in the BC Legislature, bringing their count up one to 41.
Together with the 3 Green MLAs, that gives the NDP minority government 44 seats, with the BC Liberals holding 42. This essentially secures John Horgan’s NDP government for the remainder of this first 2017-2021 term in the BC Legislature.
Tonight’s 111 polls closed at 8 pm and all poll counts were not yet in by 9:50 pm.
Votes were counted by hand in this by-election, so it was a longer wait than people are used to in general elections that are machine-counted.
By the time 26 of 111 polls had been reported around 9:15 pm, Sheila Malcolmson had been holding the lead. By 9:24 pm with 43 (almost half) of polls reported, she had surpassed 50% of the vote.
With 69 of 111 polls reported at 9:50 pm, Malcolmson had 48.52% of the popular vote. Her win brings the NDP seat count in the legislature up to 41 and stabilizes the NDP-Green minority government.
Following a jubilant introduction by a clearly very happy Premier John Horgan, Sheila Malcolmson said in a short victory speech that the NDP will “make sure that prosperity is shared. That’s our prime directive.”
Malcolmson said almost 1,000 NDP volunteers worked on her campaign. “Congratulations Nanaimo, and thank you for this amazing honour,” she said on live TV.
By 10:15 pm and with 90 of 111 ballot boxes reported, Malcolmson had 8,849 of 17,992 votes cast to that point. BC Liberal candidate Tony Harris had 7,301 votes at that point, as a strong contender.
There were 45,359 registered voters. That includes the tally of six days of advance voting (Jan 22-27) that saw a robust 20.5% turnout. About 1,000 absentee ballots have not been included in the count yet this evening; official final count comes in about two weeks says Elections BC. Initial Vote Count .
The results of this by-election now stabilize the power dynamics in the BC Legislative Assembly. Prior to tonight’s vote, the NDP-Green coalition held 43 seats (40 NDP, 3 Green) and the Liberals held 42. Now the NDP have 41 seats, therefore 44 in total; that gives a two-seat margin over the Liberals with 42 seats.
If BC Liberal candidate Tony Harris had won the riding, that would have created a 43-43 tie, leaving Speaker Darryl Plecas to cast the deciding vote and putting the NDP government in a more precarious position. (Plecas was elected as a BC Liberal but was removed from the party after accepting the position of Speaker. He now sits as an Independent.)
The NDP has held the Nanaimo riding for 20 years, winning each time with more than 40% of the vote. Long-time Nanaimo MLA Leonard Krog resigned as MLA late last year after winning the municipal mayoralty race and becoming Nanaimo’s mayor.
BC NDP candidate Sheila Malcolmson, had stepped down as MP for Nanaimo-Ladysmith to run provincially. She has had the full support of Premier John Horgan and various NDP cabinet ministers who have visited in her riding in recent days and weeks. The well-organized NDP support team numbering over a thousand workers helped get supportive voters to the polls.
There were six candidates on the ballot for the January 30, 2019 by-election: Justin Greenwood; Conservative | Tony Harris; BC Liberal Party | Sheila Malcolmson, BC NDP | Michele Ney, BC Green Party | Robin Mark Richardson, The Vancouver Island Party | Bill Walker, Libertarian.
Residents of the Nanaimo electoral district were eligible to vote in the by-election if they were: 18 or older on January 30, 2019; a Canadian citizen, and a resident of BC since July 29, 2018. For more information, including a complete list of advance and general voting places, visit elections.bc.ca/nan-byelection
Other articles:
Strong advance voter turnout of 20.5% over six days
Premier Horgan calls Nanaimo By-Election