federal election 2004

what a spectator sport! my riding was an extremely close race, with the conservatives barely defeating the ndp. check out those numbers, absolutely ridiculous. if paul martin hadn't scared everyone with his "a vote for the ndp or green is a vote for the antichrist" rhetoric the ndp probably would have taken this one.

DISTRICT: New Westminster-Coquitlam
Candidate	Party	Vote Count	Vote Share	Elected
Paul Forseth	CON	15635	32.84%	X
Steve McClurg	NDP	15590	32.74%
Dave Haggard	LIB	13006	27.31%
Carli Travers	GRN	2673	5.61%
Jack Hummelman	CHP	711	1.49%

update 06-30-04
there was a recount due to election rules that dictate "an automatic recount if the difference between the first and second-place candidates is less than one one-thousandth of the votes cast at the election."

the final result ends up being a bit more of a spread (damn), but still close:

Validated Results by the Returning Officer Validation Date: June 30, 2004 38th General Election
New Westminster—Coquitlam British Columbia Electoral District No. 59017
Valid ballots: 47,710
Rejected ballots:179
Total ballots cast:47,889
Candidate	Party	Votes
Paul Forseth	Conservative Party of Canada	15,684
Dave Haggard	Liberal Party of Canada	13,073
Jack Hummelman	Christian Heritage Party	700
Steve McClurg	New Democratic Party	15,570
Carli Travers	Green Party of Canada	2,683
Total number of validated votes:		47,710

{June 29, 2004 07:00 PM}