While the by election is over and the results are in, it will still be more than a week before Penticton's city council is up to full strength again.
Garry Litke is returning to council as mayor with 2,779 votes while Katie Robinson, with 1,500 votes, will be taking the councillor position vacated by Litke in July, when he resigned to run in the by-election.
These are preliminary results – Litke and Robinson cannot take the oath of office until nine days after the close of voting.
“Tentative arrangements have been made to swear in the mayor-elect and councillor-elect on Monday, Sept. 16 in Vancouver. These accommodations have been made to ensure the City of Penticton is fully represented at the Union of B.C. Municipalities annual convention,” said Dana Schmidt, chief election officer.
The UBCM runs from Sept. 16 to 20 in Vancouver, and Penticton's delegates are expected to be lobbying in support of the promised expansion to Penticton Regional Hospital.
According to the preliminary results, Litke was 2701 votes ahead of his nearest competitor, Vic Powell, who garnered 701 votes. The third mayoral candidate, Brian Henningson, received 222 votes.
In the race for the single councillor position, Robinson was 340 ahead of Andre Martin's 1160 votes, followed by Lynn Kelsey at 399, Pat Buchanan at 357 and Kevin Andrews with 275 votes.
In total, 3,752 votes were cast in the 2013 by election, translating into a turnout of 14.65 per cent. The last full civic election in 2011, saw 8589 out of 25,632 possible registered voters participating, for a 33.5 per cent voter turnout rate.