Dear Editor,
The recently concluded provincial election in B.C. has given much needed credibility to the pollsters.
On a number of occasions, the poll takers had egg on their face. It all started with the 2013 B.C. election, when most of the polls were predicting an BC NDP win. As things turned out, the BC Liberals defied all odds.
Then it was the provincial election in Alberta. Nobody, including the pollsters, had expected that Alberta New Democrats, led by Rachel Notley, to achieve an impressive victory over the Conservative dynasty that had ruled the province for almost 40 years.
Then came Donald Trump on the scene. Every pollster was predicting a win by Democrat Hillary Clinton over the Republican.
It appears that most of the polling firms had learned their lesson and were very cautious this time around.
Every poll was predicting a very close race between the two main contenders, the Liberals and NDP, with Andrew Weaver’s Greens as a wild card. This is exactly what happened, so our pollsters can breathe a sigh of relief.
Their credibility has been restored, up to some extent. We will find out the final election standings by May 24 when more than 176,000 absentee and mail ballots are counted. There may be some surprises in store for British Columbians when they wake up on May 25.
Locally, the election results were no surprise. Definitely, the New Democrat and the Green votes in Richmond have gone up considerably. However, the end result is the same, as expected by many.
In this regard, I would like to offer my congratulations, not only to the winners, but also to all of the candidates who were brave enough to put forward their names for public service.
This is what democracy is all about. We should all be proud of the democratic process and thank each one of the candidates for participating in this process.
Balwant Sanghera
Richmond
