MLA Dan Ashton was the biggest spender in last year’s election, but he wasn’t the most efficient spender.
That went to first-time Green Party candidate Ted Shumaker, who turned his modest spending into the most votes per-dollar.
Elections BC published candidates’ financial disclosures to the public on Feb. 2, which outline how much and where candidates spent their money.
Shumaker received a total of 3,152 votes in the October election, and all he spent was the $250 for his candidacy deposit. Including the $19 in bank charges he included on his expenses, he received 11.7 votes per dollar.
READ MORE:B.C. Votes 2020: Incumbent Dan Ashton heading towards third term in Penticton
Dan Ashton, comparatively was the biggest spender in the election, spending $40,258.25. He ended the election with 13,217 votes, or 48.19 per cent of the total vote. This works out to $3.05 dollars per vote.
Summerland Mayor Toni Boot took 37.71 per cent or 10,343 of the votes from the election, in exchange for $14,150.73, or the equivalent of $1.37 dollars per vote.
The second best spending to voting record though went to Keith MacIntyre, the candidate for the B.C. Libertarian party who received 717 votes and spent $605.4, for a ratio $0.844 dollars per vote.
Out of the spending, Ashton spent $32,331.44 on advertising, while Boot spent $5,942.13, and MacIntyre spent $280.69.
The electoral district had a total number of 27,429 valid votes in the election, and a total of $55,283.42 in spending, which makes $2.02 dollars spent on every vote.
Correction: The initial version of this story had incorrectly stated the ratio for Keith MacIntyre was the worst compared to the other candidate. His vote to spending ratio was in fact the second best.
To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.
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