Williams thankful after win

UPDATE: 11:03 p.m.

The newly-elected MLA for Salmon Arm-Shuswap thanked voters after his Saturday night win.

David Williams had gathered with his team and supporters at the Royal Canadian Legion in Salmon Arm to watch the election results roll in.

“I feel overwhelmed and appreciative that the people in this riding actually have that much faith in me,” Williams told Castanet.

With 27 out of 28 final voting day ballot boxes tallied, Williams, a long-time Shuswap resident, secured 52 per cent of the vote.

The BC NDP’s Sylvia Lindgren was the runner up with 30 per cent of the vote, followed by Independent Greg McCune (9.25 per cent), Jed Wiebe (7.07 per cent) and Sherry Roy (1.19 per cent).

Williams said he wants to see Salmon Arm “be the best it can be.”

“I will serve them well — because the fact is, that you don’t want to let people down,” he said.

UPDATE: 9:44 p.m.

Runner-up Sylvia Lindgren says she was feeling disappointed after seeing election results tallied up on Saturday night.

"I don't think any of us on our team expected people to go so far right," the BC NDP candidate said.

"We had an incredible team, and we don't regret a minute of it. But yeah, it's a hard one this year, that's for sure."

As of about 9:45 p.m., Lindgren had received just over 9,400 votes, trailing behind BC Conservative candidate David Williams who was declared the new MLA for the Salmon Arm-Shuswap riding.

Williams had received about 16,250 votes.

All nine advanced voting ballot boxes had reported, and 27 out of 28 ballot boxes had been counted.

BC Green Party candidate Jed Wiebe had a positive outlook about the election.

"I'm really proud of what we did," Wiebe said. "We got a really good team together, and everybody worked really hard.

"We did something I think, pretty amazing."

Wiebe also pointed out that with such a tight provincial race between the BC NDP and BC Conservative, the greens are positioned to have a lot of sway in the province even with only two seats in the legislature.

Wiebe received about 2,200 votes, good for about seven per cent of the vote.

Neither candidate was prepared to comment about whether they would put their name forward in future elections, although Lindgren added, "talk to me in three and a half years."

UPDATE: 8:42 p.m.

David Williams has been declared MLA for the Salmon Arm-Shuswap riding.

The BC Conservative candidate has captured about 52 per cent of the vote — a 23 point lead over the BC NDP’s Sylvia Lindgren.

UPDATE: 8:21 p.m.

Early results for the Salmon Arm-Shuswap riding are showing BC Conservative candidate David Williams taking the lead.

About 20 minutes after polls closed, early results show Williams with 5,149 votes, well ahead of BC NDP’s Sylvia Lindgren, who has received 2,385 votes.

Sixteen out of 28 final voting day ballot boxes have reported results, with a total of 9,201 ballots counted.

UPDATE: 7:48 p.m.

Salmon Arm-Shuswap Independent candidate Greg McCune said he believes the high voter turnout seen so far this election shows British Columbians are ready to make a change.

Data from Elections BC shows a little more than one million votes were cast province-wide during six days of advance polls — working out to 28.2 per cent of eligible voters across the province.

In the Salmon Arm-Shuswap riding, Elections BC reported a total of 14,189 people cast their ballots during advance voting days.

“People, you know, they want a change for sure,” McCune said, adding in just a short amount of time, residents will find out what that change is.

“They're definitely coming out to vote — and that is so important. ...Just that one fact alone actually makes me pretty excited and pretty happy.”

McCune said his campaign team will be meeting in the home of one of their members to enjoy dinner together and watch the results come in.

“And then we'll see what happens,” he added.

McCune said if he is elected, he plans to head into Salmon Arm and “see what's going on and just try to enjoy the evening.”

Voting stations for the 2024 B.C. provincial election close at 8 p.m.

UPDATE: 6:58 p.m.

BC NDP candidate Sylvia Lindgren says she’s trying to keep her emotions in check with just an hour to go until polls close in the Salmon Arm-Shuswap riding.

“I don't want to set myself up for feeling the wrong feelings, so just trying to stay neutral right now,” Lindgren said. “Get too excited, and it's a long way to drop if you don't get it.”

Lindgren has some experience with election night jitters, having run unsuccessfully for the NDP in the 2020 provincial election. She is also a councillor for the City of Salmon Arm.

She said she will gather with her team and supporters at their campaign office on Shuswap Street in Salmon Arm.

“We're going to hang out here and have some music and watch the polls come in,” she said.

Lindgren said she cast her ballot on the first day advanced polling was open.

Jed Wiebe, BC Green Party candidate, said he went to cast his vote earlier in the day on Saturday.

“I saved it for today,” he told Castanet. “I thought it would be more fun to do it on the big day.”

Wiebe said he will gather with members of his campaign team at one of their houses to watch for election results.

He added the BC Greens have ran a candidate in this riding for every election since 1992 and the party has seen growing support in almost every election.

“Sort of like a steady, slow growth,” he explained. “Hopefully this time it will be a rapid bump, that's what I'm excited to find out.”

ORIGINAL: 5:53 p.m.

Salmon Arm-Shuswap candidates say emotions are running high as they prepare to gather with supporters and watch provincial election results come in later Saturday night.

“I don't know if the word is nervous, but there's a kind of excitement that I can't hide,” said Jed Wiebe, BC Green Party candidate.

By the end of the day, votes will be tallied to find out which candidate will represent the Salmon Arm-Shuswap riding in Victoria, and which party will form the next B.C. government.

There are five candidates vying to be the next MLA in Salmon Arm-Shuswap.

These include Wiebe, the BC NDP's Sylvia Lindgren, Independent Greg McCune, Independent Sherry Roy, and the BC Conservative party’s David Williams.

Williams said a prolonged campaign that began with an introductory barbecue over the August long weekend has taken its toll.

“I feel exhausted,” Williams laughed. “But other than that, fine.”

Williams said he would be gathering with his team and supporters at the Royal Canadian Legion in Salmon Arm to watch the election results come in.

He said he was one of the many British Columbians who cast their ballots during advanced voting.

“We knew we would have no time today,” he added.

Elections BC reported a total of 14,189 people in the Salmon Arm-Shuswap riding voted during one of the six advance voting days earlier in October.

Voting stations for the 2024 B.C. provincial election are open until 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Click here to find addresses for the 25 available polling stations in the Salmon Arm-Shuswap riding.