Local riding too tight to call

UPDATE 12:02 a.m.

The top two candidates in the Vernon-Lumby riding both say the race is too tight to call on election night.

Just 385 votes put NDP incumbent Harwinder Sandhu ahead of BC Conservative Dennis Giesbrecht, and neither candidate is declaring or conceding the riding.

According to Elections BC all of the advance and final voting ballot boxes have been counted, with just the mail in ballots left. The count shows Sandhu leading with 42.5 per cent of the vote or 11,528 ballots cast in her favour while BC Conservative Dennis Giesbrecht has 41.08 per cent or 11,143 ballots.

UPDATE 10:50 p.m.

Nearly three hours after polls closed across the province and while the count is getting close, Vernon-Lumby is still without a clear winner.

The race between NDP incumbent Harwinder Sandhu and BC Conservative Dennis Giesbrecht remains close with just one ballot box left.

Less than 400 votes separate the two – Sandhu leading with 11,518 votes to Giesbrecht's 11,142.

Independent Kevin Acton was out of the race fairly early getting 15.47 per cent, or 4,196 ballots, so far. He beat out BC Libertarian Robert Johnson who has yet to receive even 1 per cent of the ballots cast.

UPDATE 9:13 p.m.

As more votes are being counted, the race remains tight in Vernon-Lumby.

NDP incumbent Harwinder Sandhu remains in the lead with 43.07 per cent of counted votes (10,989), and BC Conservative candidate Dennis Giesbrecht has 40.87 per cent (10,427).

UPDATE 8:42 p.m.

With 22 of 26 ballot boxes now being counted in Vernon-Lumby, votes are showing a tight race between NDP incumbent Harwinder Sandhu and BC Conservative Dennis Giesbrecht.

About 22,000 votes have been counted and Sandhu has just pulled ahead of Giesbrecht.

UPDATE 8:21 p.m.

BC Conservative Dennis Giesbrecht is off to a very early lead with 45.3 per cent of the votes counted so far.

NDP incumbent Harwinder Sandhu is following close behind with 37.8 per cent, and Independent Kevin Acton is showing 16 per cent.

Libertarian Robert Johnson is showing 0.9 per cent.

It's just 20 minutes after the polls have closed, and six of 26 ballot boxes are being counted right now.

UPDATE 8 p.m.

Polls are now closed across the province and results are expected to come in quick with electronic tabulation.

Elections BC has said the goal is to have 50 per cent of results within half an hour of polls closing at 8 p.m. and the majority within the hour.

Vernon-Lumby candidates are now awaiting results alongside voters.

Ahead of the polls closing, at about 4 p.m., Independent candidate Kevin Acton said he was feeling good win or lose, and BC Conservatives candidate Dennis Giesbrecht said he was feeling confident.

At about 7 p.m., NDP incumbent Harwinder Sandhu let Castanet know she was hoping to get the opportunity to serve the community once again.

-with files from Times Colonist

ORIGINAL 5:29 p.m.

Polls close at 8 p.m. across the province and in Vernon-Lumby four candidates are vying for seat in the provincial government.

NDP candidate Harwinder Sandhu has been the MLA in the area since 2020 when she narrowly beat out then-incumbent BC Liberal Eric Foster by just 424 votes. Sandhu was unavailable for comment ahead of the polls closing, Saturday afternoon.

Hoping to unseat Sandhu in this election is long-time mayor of Lumby Kevin Acton who entered the race as a BC United candidate and decided to run as an independent when the party suspended its campaign at the end of August.

Ahead of the polls closing, Acton likened the race to “riding a rollercoaster without a seatbelt – you're up and down, and there's just so little control as a candidate.”

“I really want people to vote for who they believe in and not just the rhetoric that's out there,” said Acton.

“But I'm feeling good, win or lose. My team has been absolutely incredible. I think for an independent candidate's team we raised a lot of money, we put just as much effort – if not more – into the campaign than the other teams.”

Another candidate vying for the MLA job is BC Conservative Dennis Giesbrecht who said he is feeling confident as people finish casting their ballots. Giesbrecht spoke with Castanet Vernon just after 4 p.m. Saturday.

Giesbrecht said the campaign went “really well. The volunteer turnout was amazing. We've been ahead of schedule on our Get out the Vote program. I'm feeling pretty good.”

Polls leading up to election day showed the ruling NDP party neck and neck with the provincial Conservatives, a far cry from even a year ago when the Conservatives were languishing far behind the NDP and then BC Liberal party.

“People are fed up. They see what is going on in streets and they see things that are not working,” Giesbrecht said rise of the provincial party.

BC Libertarian candidate Robert Johnson is also running for the seat.

Polls close at 8 p.m. and with the new electronic ballot counting system in place, full results are expected to be known by 9 p.m.

This story will be updated throughout the evening as results roll in.