Photo: Contributed

UPDATE: 6:30 p.m.

Harwinder Sandhu and the BC NDP continue to widen their lead in the Vernon-Monashee riding Saturday evening, as the thousands of mail-in ballots in the riding are being counted.

Current Vernon-Monashee vote count as of 6:30 p.m. Saturday:

• Harwinder Sandhu BC NDP - 9,568 (36.16%)
• Eric Foster BC Liberal Party - 9,286 (35.09%)
• Keli Westgate BC Green Party - 4,239 (16.02%)
• Kyle Delfing Conservative - 3,369 (12.73%)

So far, 26,462 votes have been counted in the riding. 
 

ORIGINAL: 8 a.m.

Harwinder Sandhu and the BC NDP have taken the lead in the Vernon-Monashee riding, as the thousands of mail-in ballots in the riding continue to be counted.

The local riding remains one of the closest ridings in B.C.'s 2020 election, as Friday's absentee ballots count put Sandhu with 50 more votes than BC Liberal incumbent Eric Foster. After election night, Foster led the race with 180 votes, but mail-in ballots have favoured the NDP across B.C.

The Vernon-Monashee riding hasn't elected an NDP candidate since 1984, and Foster has represented the area since 2009. In 2017, Foster handily won the riding, taking 48 per cent of the vote to the NDP's 29 per cent.

Prior to Friday's counts, the riding had 8,581 mail-in ballots that had yet to be counted. And while Sandhu has secured a 50-vote lead as of Saturday morning, there remain about 5,500 ballots left to count. A difference of 100 votes or less will automatically trigger a recount.

Final counts are expected to be completed across the province by Sunday evening, but it could spill over into next week.

Province-wide, the NDP currently hold 57 seats to the BC Liberals' 27, while the Green Party holds three. The NDP will hold a majority government.

Current Vernon-Monashee vote count as of 8 a.m. Saturday:

• Harwinder Sandhu BC NDP – 7,894 (35.11%)
• Eric Foster BC Liberal Party – 7,844 (34.89%)
• Keli Westgate BC Green Party – 3,621 (16.11%)
• Kyle Delfing Conservative – 3,124 (13.89%)