Watch newly re-elected Liberal MLA Donna Barnett shortly after her victory:
10:50 p.m. - NDP candidate Sally Watson was still watching the results come in when the Free Press reached her. While the Liberal Donna Barnett has been elected in the Cariboo-Chilcotin riding, Watson says she is proud of her performance.
“I believe that we did very well and I did well enough to try again.”
Provincially, the election is still too close to call for either the NDP or the Liberal party.
“It’s very exciting and it tells me that the people in the province are definitely tired of the Liberals and they want to have a new government. They want life to be more affordable and they want to fix the services and they want an economy that works for everyone.”
Watson says all three candidates in the Cariboo-Chilcotin worked hard.
“We believed in different things and we did what we could for our constituents. I am proud of my volunteers. I am very proud of every one who supported me,” she says.
“Congratulations to Donna.”
10:20 p.m. - The Free Press spoke with Green candidate Rita Giesbrecht who was watching the results come in from Lac la Hache, where a cheer could be heard over the phone line.
“The Green Party is all about momentum and of course all of our supporters declared a win yesterday based on the fact that we’ve changed the political conversation here in the Cariboo-Chilcotin,” she says.
“Me getting a seat in Legislature obviously is the aim, I didn’t run for anything else. I ran to win, but on the other hand not winning does not mean that you throw in the towel… We’ll be continuing to push with that momentum going forward.”
When the Free Press spoke with Giesbrecht, the Green Party was leading in two other ridings and very close in a third.
“Things have changed in B.C. This election has changed things. that is what we have been doing and that is what we will continue to do,” she says.
“The Green Party is playing the long game because we feel like it’s worth it.
At 10:15, Giesbrecht had recieved 1,748 votes in the Cariboo-Chilcotin.
In 2013, Green Party candidate Dustin Price garnered 747.
“My vote count here is considerably advanced from the Green Party previously and like I said, momentum is what we are all about.”
10:00 p.m. - The Greens have doubled their seats with Andrew Weaver holding on to his seat in Oak Bay-Gordon Head and Adam Olsen winning in Saanich North and the Islands. This could prove crucial as the Liberals have won or are leading in 43 ridings and the NDP have won or are leading in 42 ridings.
9:30 p.m. - Currently, Barnett has 2,438 votes, Giesbrecht has 648 and Watson 1,161. Provincially, the Liberals are leading in 44 riding which is the exact number needed for a majority. The Greens may pick up an extra seat to become an official party. The difference this election could be very small. We’ll have a statements by the candidates shortly.
9:20 p.m. - Donna Barnett’s campaign office cheers when Global calls the Cariboo-Chilcotin for the Liberals.
9:05 p.m. - Our election tracker has called the Cariboo-Chilcotin for Donna Barnett. Currently, Barnett has 962 votes, Giesbrecht has 236 and Watson 477.
8:45 p.m. - With the results slowing trickling in we touched base with the different parties and candidates to see how they are feeling.
Cariboo-Chilcotin NDP campaign manager Richard Vollo says “We’re optimistic and we’re very early on. There’s not much more to say than that.”
Green Party candidate Rita Giesbrecht is awaiting results in Lac la Hache.
“We have been feeling really, really stoked all day. We feel like we have altered the face of politics in the Cariboo-Chilcotin and we are awaiting the result, but we are declaring a win no matter what, based on what we have accomplished in the Cariboo-Chilcotin,” she says.
“We are pleased, we were pleased before the polls ever closed.”
We caught up with incumbent Liberal candidate Donna Barnett as she entered her campaign office in 100 Mile House.
She says she is “nervous,” but the mood in her office was cheerful.
“They’ve worked really hard.”
Currently Barnett has 569 votes, Giesbrecht has 103 and Watson 241.
8:30 p.m. - The first results have started to come out. Provincially the Liberals are leading, including in the Cariboo Chilcotin but keep in mind that with such small voting percentages, a lot could still change.
8:00 p.m. - As we wait for the votes to be counted, we checked in with Lorne Landry, the Cariboo-Chilcotin District Electoral Officer to see what is happening behind the scenes.
At 8 p.m. the doors at polling stations are closed and locked.
Voting officials in each polling station will open the boxes and count the ballots. They are only counting what Elections B.C. calls live ballots. Absentee ballots are counted in number only and will be shipped to each individual riding following the election.
Each candidate is able to send representatives or “scrutineers” to each voting place to observe the count. Scrutineers can flag votes they think shouldn’t be counted, which Elections B.C. then notes.
Votes from the advance polls are also counted at the same time.
Once the votes in 100 Mile House are tabulated, the supervisor for each voting station calls the results into the District Electoral Office in Williams Lake.
Landry says before the internet, the office would be filled with people and votes would be recorded on a white board “like at the stock market.” Now, he says, results are almost instantaneously online.
This is all part of a process called the initial count.
Following the initial count, the official count takes place, done by Landry himself.
Voting boxes from throughout the riding are sent up to Williams Lake where Landry recounts them.
At the same time, absentee ballots from around the province arrive in their respective riding and are added to the initial count.
Landry says this is why there is always a difference in numbers between the initial count and the official count.
The process takes about 10 days to complete.
When this is done, the ballots and other election material are packed into boxes and then shipped to a warehouse in Victoria by Canada Post, where they are stored in case a judicial recount ever needs to take place.
7:30 p.m. - As the booths are about to close, we take a quick peek at the latest tweets by the party leaders:
Less than one hour left to vote. As long as you're in line by 8pm, you can vote. Let's make this a record voter turnout. #bcvotes #bcelxn17
— Andrew Weaver (@AJWVictoriaBC) May 10, 2017
If we get enough people to the polls today, we'll elect a government that works for everyone. https://t.co/AhPfxUoMwl #bcvotes2017 #betterBC pic.twitter.com/SJlVsVCdp8
— John Horgan (@jjhorgan) May 9, 2017
I voted for a #BrightFuture pic.twitter.com/PKmD7ogp9c
— Christy Clark (@christyclarkbc) May 9, 2017
6:30 p.m. - Voters have a few hours left to get their votes in before polls close at 8 p.m.
Incumbent Donna Barnett (BC Liberal Party) is up against challengers Sally Watson (B.C. NDP) and Rita Giesbrecht (BC Green Party).
Voters across the Cariboo-Chilcotin had a number of issues on their mind when they took to the polls.
We asked some of the voters coming out of the polling station at the 100 Mile House Curling Rink why they were voting this election:
“Healthcare, childcare is huge,” says Hayley Emmerson, who voted for the first time this election.
“A little old lady got mad at me and said women died for you and fought for you to vote so you have to go vote. I totally believe that ” she says. “I feel like every vote counts, it makes a difference, right?”
Randy Emisch says that logging was an important issue for him this election and looked for a party that would keep raw lumber in the area instead of shipping it south to the United States.
For Ginger Moyah, she says that avoiding higher taxes was important for her.
“Making sure we have somebody looking out for all the working class people. That’s important to me.”
As for voting: “I feel like it is my duty.”
Gord and Joanne Molnar came out of the polling station together.
“There are a lot of people who fought and died just to have these freedoms to be able to vote so it’s an important thing just to exercise it,” says Joanne.
She says the economy was an important factor in her vote.
“Jobs are a necessity to keep the province going.”
Gord says he always votes.
“It’s my duty, one vote is not more important than the other,” he says.
“If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.”
Check this page for live updates and check our website, www.100milefreepress.net, for full election coverage starting at 8 p.m.