The votes are in!
Elections Canada has completed counting the mail-in ballots for the Port Moody-Coquitlam and Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam ridings as of this publication (Sept. 24), making Bonita Zarrillo and Ron McKinnon the MP elects respectively.
After all was said and done, there was a 61.18 per cent combined average in local voter turnout for the 2021 federal election.
This marks a slight decrease compared to the 2019 Canada election — 64.45 per cent combined voter turnout average.
PORT MOODY-COQUITLAM
In total, 62.22 per cent of eligible voters in this riding cast their ballot in the election.
That's 52,087 people aged 18 and older out of 83,715 registered Port Moody-Coquitlam residents among a population of 110,817.
The number remains consistent as voter turnouts in past five elections were above 60 per cent, including 65.76 per cent in 2019.
There were 206 polls this year with NDP's Zarrillo winning 37.2 per cent of the vote. The final standings are as follows:
- Bonita Zarrillo (NDP) = 37.2 per cent
- Nelly Shin (Conservative) = 31.9 per cent
- Will Davis (Liberal) = 27.3 per cent
- Desta McPherson (PPC) = 3.4 per cent
- Roland Verrier (Marxist-Leninist) = 0.2 per cent
According to Elections Canada, there were 5,235 vote-by-mail kits returned to the non-partisan organization.
Advanced voting this year (Sept. 10-13) in Port Moody-Coquitlam saw a 22 per cent increase with 17,460 eligible residents casting their ballot early. There were 14,318 advance voters in that riding in 2019.
COQUITLAM-PORT COQUITLAM
Ron McKinnon's victory was confirmed across the 220 polls in this riding, earning himself a third consecutive term with the Liberals.
Voter turnout for Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam this year was tallied at 60.13 per cent — 56,187 eligible ballots cast out of 93,440 registered eligible voters aged 18 and older.
(The riding's population was counted at 123,576.)
This is also the third straight election campaign voter turnout was above 60 per cent, but also represents a three per cent year-over-year decrease compared to 63.13 per cent in 2019.
The final results are as follows:
- Ron McKinnon (Liberal) = 38.4 per cent
- Katerina Anastasiadis (Conservative) = 30.5 per cent
- Laura Dupont (NDP) = 26.8 per cent
- Kimberly Brundell (PPC) = 4.3 per cent
There were 5,001 vote-by-mail kits returned to Elections Canada.
In Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, a total of 18,325 eligible residents decided to vote early between Sept. 10 and 13 — a 28 per cent uptick compared to 14,318 two years ago.
McKinnon will serve alongside Justin Trudeau, who's projected to win another minority government and a third term as prime minister as mail-in ballots are still being counted in other ridings across the country.
As of this publication, The Canadian Press is currently projecting 159 seats for the Liberals (170 was needed for a majority), 119 for the Conservatives, 33 for the Bloc Québécois, 25 for the NDP and two for the Greens.
