A beaming John Horgan thanked volunteers and voters on Saturday night but stopped short of declaring a victory for the BC NDP.
“B.C. has voted and a majority has been called, but there are many, many hundreds of thousands of votes yet to be counted,” Horgan said on Saturday night.
At the time of writing, the party is projected to form a majority government with 55 seats secured.
“One thing we know for certain is one Monday I’ll be going back to work,” Horgan said.
“This has been an extra difficult election for many, many reasons, but it’s one that I believe had to happen, and I think I’m grateful for all British Columbians that we have put the election behind us and we can get back to focusing on the things that matter most to you.”
On Saturday evening, NDP candidates were leading in traditionally Liberal ridings in Richmond, Surrey, Langley and Chilliwack.
IMPORTANT NOTE / NOTE TO READERS about mail-in ballots: Due to the anticipated number of mail-in ballots, the election night vote count will not be complete. The Canadian Press will continue to publish updated riding results to the map and banners as available until counting is complete
In his address, Horgan acknowledged the challenges British Columbians have faced throughout the pandemic, and cautioned that COVID-19 challenges will continue.
“COVID-19 has turned our lives upside down. None of us expected to be here,” he said. “But we are far from out of the woods. COVID-19 will be with us for the foreseeable future.”
“I commit to all British Columbians that for the next four years, I will do my level best to make sure your lives are better, more affordable, and the challenges you face can be overcome if we do it together.”
BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson and BC Greens leader Sonia Furstenau also delivered speeches on Saturday. Wilkinson mentioned the number of advanced voting and mail-in ballots that have yet to be counted. He did not concede.
Voting results are currently being updated every three minutes on the Elections BC website.
Final voting results are not yet available, and won’t be available until after the final vote count.
@hayleywoodin
