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Abbotsford South and West ridings see more than 16,000 votes cast ahead of election

More than a third of all votes have likely been cast already
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Elections BC has sent out almost 700,000 mail voting packages as of Oct. 14 with just under 3.5 million registered voters. (Black Press Media File)

Thousands of ballots have already been cast in Aldergrove ridings in advance of Saturday’s provincial election day.

Advance voting ended on Wednesday, Oct. 21, and according to Elections BC, which oversees and runs the vote, about a fifth of eligible local voters have already cast ballots.

Turnout was heavy at the two main local ridings, Abbotsford South and Abbotsford West.

• Abbotsford South: 8,085 votes cast, out of 44,896 registered voters

• Abbotsford West: 8.061 votes cast, out of registered 39,087 voters

Those numbers do not include people who requested a mail-in ballot as of the end of the day on Oct. 22.

In the last provincial election held in 2017, Abbotsford South saw 22,343 votes cast of the 41,002 eligible registered voters. That translated to a 54 per cent voter turn out. There were 174 of those ballots rejected.

Of the valid ballots, Liberal Darryl Plecas garnered 52 per cent or 11,673 of those votes. He announced that he would not seek re-election earlier this year.

He was trailed by NDP candidate Jasleen Arora who got 28 per cent of the vote and Green candidate Aird Flavelle, who is also running in the 2020 election; he earned 2,280 votes.

Current Christian Heritage national leader Ron Gray ran for MLA in Abbotsford South, taking 4 per cent of the vote with a total of 942.

READ MORE: Advance poll turnout up, thousands of mail ballots await counting

In Abbotsford West, there were 21,185 votes cast of the 36,975 eligible registered voters. That translated to a 57 per cent voter turn out. There were 148 of those ballots rejected.

Of the valid ballots, incumbent Liberal Mike de Jong garnered 55 per cent or 11,618 of those votes.

He was trailed by 200 rivals, NDP candidate Preet Rai, who earned 6,474 votes – or 30 per cent – and Green Kevin Eastwood, who took in 2,280 votes.

Christian Heritage Party Candidate Lynn Simcox earned 516 votes while Libertarian Dave Sharkey received 149 ballots.

Mailed in ballots won’t be counted until Nov. 6, the day the final council by Elections BC begins.

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Email: ryan.uytdewilligen@aldergrovestar.com

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