B.C. Liberals take 10 ridings in southern Interior

Last Updated: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 | 1:54 AM PT

CBC News

The B.C. Liberals have taken 10 ridings in B.C.'s southern interior, while the NDP managed to take only four.

In Kelowna-Mission, B.C. Liberal Steve Thomson got more than 50 per cent of the popular vote.

In November, Liberal Sindi Hawkins announced she would not be running again after a long battle with cancer.

B.C. New Democrat Tisha Kalmanovitch trailed with just under 30 per cent of the vote, followed by B.C. Conservative Mark Thompson with just over 10 per cent of the vote and the Green party's Crystal Waraich with approximately eight per cent.

In Kootenay-East, Liberal Bill Bennett took over 50 per cent of the vote, while New Democrat Troy Sebastian followed with just under 35 per cent of the vote. Conservative Leader Wilf Hanni finished third with about 10 per cent and the Green party's Jennifer Tsuida trailed with just under four per cent.

In Cariboo-North, New Democrat Bob Simpson has been re-elected with about 50 per cent of the vote.

Liberal Bruce Ernst trailed closely behind with approximately 46 per cent, followed by the Green party's Douglas Gook with just under five per cent.

In 2005, Simpson defeated Liberal Steve Wallace by just 269 votes.

In Westside-Kelowna, Liberal Ben Stewart led the race with more than 50 per cent of the vote.

New Democrat Tish Lakes trailed with just under 30 per cent, followed by Conservative Peter Neville and the Green Party's Robin Andrew McKim with under 10 per cent each.

In June 2008 long-time Liberal MLA Rick Thorpe announced he would not be running again.

In Boundary-Similkameen, Liberal John Slater took just under 40 per cent of the vote, with New Democrat Lakhvinder Jhaj trailing close behind with just under 35 per cent.

Conservative Joe Cardoso took just over 20 per cent of the vote.

This new riding was created in 2008 from a large chunk of a riding that went to the B.C. Liberals in 2005 and smaller parts of two other ridings that fell to the NDP. But in 2009, no incumbents were running from either of the main parties, leaving the race wide open with a full slate of new candidates.

In Fraser-Nicola, New Democrat incumbent and former cabinet minister Harry Lali took just under 50 per cent of the vote.

Liberal Ella Brown followed with just over 40 per cent, while Green Desiree Maher-Schley got just over six per cent of the vote.

In Kamloops-North Thompson, Liberal Terry Lake just under 50 per cent of the vote. New Democrat Doug Brown trailed with just under 45 per cent, and Green candidate April Snow polled just over five per cent.

In Cariboo-Chilcotin, which had been predicted to be a tight race, New Democrat Charlie Wyse squeaked ahead of Liberal Donna Barnett by just 22 votes.

Green Elli Taylor took just under five per cent of the vote.

In 2005, Wyse defeated Liberal Walt Cobb by just 114 votes.

B.C. Votes 2009

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Overall Results

Overall Election Results
Party	Elected	Leading	Total	Vote Share (%)
Updated: May. 13, 2009, 1:16 AM PDT
LIB	49	0	49	46.02
NDP	36	0	36	42.06
GRN	0	0	0	8.10
CON	0	0	0	2.11
OTH	0	0	0	1.72

Choose a format to view results for all ridings and parties:

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All results are unofficial until final ballot counts are verified by Elections B.C.

STV referendum overall results

Question: Which electoral system should British Columbia use to elect members to the provinical Legislative Assembly?

The existing system (First-Past-the-Post)
The single transferable vote electorial system (BC-STV) proposed by the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform

Electoral District Vote

BC-STV

First-Past-the-Post

51 RIDINGS

Ridings 7/85

Ridings 78/85

Updated: May. 13, 2009, 1:16 AM PDT

85/85 ridings reporting

Total Popular Vote

BC-STV

First-Past-the-Post

MAJORITY 60%

560,430 votes | 38.82%

883,259 votes | 61.18%

Updated: May. 13, 2009, 1:16 AM PDT

What it needs to win:

For the referendum to be binding, the approval level must be:

more than 50% of the votes in at least 51 of the province's 85 electoral districts, AND
at least 60% of the total popular vote, province-wide.

If the two thresholds are met, government is required to introduce legislation to implement BC-STV in sufficient time for it to be in place for the May 2013 General Election.

B.C. Votes Headlines

Huntington defeats Oppal in B.C. election recount: Independent candidate Vicki Huntington has defeated high profile B.C. Liberal cabinet minister Wally Oppal in the riding of Delta South in one of two provincial election recounts concluded on Tuesday.
Oppal falls behind in see-saw Delta South recount: B.C. Liberal Wally Oppal fell behind in Monday's initial recount of ballots cast in Delta South in the May 12 provincial election. Absentee votes will still need to be counted Tuesday before the final result will be announced Wednesday.
Record low voter turnout in B.C. election: Voter turnout in B.C.'s provincial election hit a record low on Tuesday, with only 50 per cent of eligible voters bothering to vote, a full eight percentage points less than the 58 per cent that voted in 2005.
Oppal awaits results of recount for Delta South seat: There will be an automatic recount in the Delta South riding after preliminary election results show star Liberal candidate Wally Oppal beat independent Vicki Huntington by a mere two votes.
Re-elected Campbell to focus on strengthening B.C.'s economy: Gordon Campbell says reviving the province's economy is his main task as he heads into a historic third straight term as the province's premier, but other issues — such as health care and the environment — are also on the agenda.

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B.C. Votes Features

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