Sask. NDP's ChiefCalf officially claims seat in Saskatoon Westview as final election ballots tallied

The Saskatchewan Legislative Building is shown on Jan. 29, 2022. (Cole Davenport/CTV News Regina)

The final round of ballots from Saskatchewan’s provincial election were tallied on Saturday, and a race that was previously too close to call has officially been declared.

The Sask. NDP’s April ChiefCalf officially won the seat in the constituency of Saskatoon Westview with a slim margin over the Saskatchewan Party’s David Buckingham.

Following the second ballot count on Oct. 30, the NDP was leading with a narrow margin of 37 votes.

In total, 484 mail-in ballots were issued for the constituency of Saskatoon Westview, with 291 of those counted on Oct. 30, according to Elections Saskatchewan.

After counting the remaining mail-in ballots, as well as hospital and remand centre votes on Saturday, ChiefCalf held onto the lead and was ultimately declared the winner with a final margin of 74 votes.

The other constituency that was too close to call on election night was Saskatoon Willowgrove, with Saskatchewan Party MLA Ken Cheveldayoff winning his seat after the second preliminary vote count on Oct. 30.

All 12 Regina constituencies voted in an NDP MLA, and all but the Saskatoon Willowgrove constituency elected an NDP candidate.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats for a majority government, and the Sask. NDP now has 27 seats with ChiefCalf’s win, nearly double what the NDP had before the Oct. 28 election.