LAKELAND - It's a race to the finish, as an announcement regarding the results from the Dec. 10-12 Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul United Conservative Party nomination continue to be delayed.
Speaking on Tuesday evening, constituency association president Ron Young said the results of the vote were "as close as it could be," and a joint decision was made by the local association and the provincial UCP to delay an announcement as the provincial organization takes over.
Young noted that he had dropped things off in Edmonton earlier in the day on Tuesday, and had been told an announcement would come from the party itself in the coming days.
A total of 723 UCP members of about 1,500 eligible voters participated in the vote that saw current UCP MLA David Hanson up against former UCP MLA Scott Cyr and former MD of Bonnyville Reeve Greg Sawchuk. The candidate with the most votes will run in the next provincial election, slated for the spring of 2023.
Due to how close the vote is, an appeal could take place after the results are announced.
While he could not say specifically how close the vote was, he noted that in previous nomination votes where it was within less than 10 votes between candidates, an announcement was made right away. This week's vote was even closer than that.
Young appreciates that people are anxious to know results.
"Everyone has been waiting for these results," and he is hopeful it will be made public soon.
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