CBC projects four additional seats for the Saskatchewan NDP and one more for the Saskatchewan Party after the first round of mail-in ballots are counted on Wednesday.

Of the 61 electoral elections in the province, CBC considers that only two, Saskatoon Westview and Saskatoon Willowgrove, are still too close to call.

The final count, including remaining absentee ballots received after October 26 but before the deadline, will be counted on November 9.

• CBC will continue to broadcast this page with live results as they arrive from Elections Saskatchewan.

Saskatoon Westview was the tightest race heading into Wednesday, with Saskatchewan Party incumbent David Buckingham leading by 31 votes over the NDP’s April ChiefCalf.

After the initial mail-in count, Elections Saskatchewan showed ChiefCalf leading by 37 votes after 291 of 484 mail-in ballots were counted. Up to 193 absentee ballots could still be received. They will be counted during the final count on November 9.

As for Saskatoon Willowgrove, incumbent Ken Cheveldayoff leads by 178 votes after the counting of 658 absentee ballots. There are 427 absentee ballots that may still be received.

Political analyst Éric Grenier said he believes the seats will remain the same once the final count is done, with the NDP increasing the margin in Saskatoon Westview.

“It looks like in Saskatoon as a whole, the NDP will win 13 seats and the Saskatchewan Party will win one, if they can hold on to Willowgrove,” Grenier said.

WATCH | How the CBC Decision Desk “triggers” an election:

How the CBC Decision Desk ‘triggers’ an election

How does Radio-Canada make its projections during an election? Well, let’s go behind the scenes and find out what’s going on in the calls and handling of coverage on election night. The team works hard to ensure the results are presented to you accurately every time.

The NDP eliminates two ministers

Longtime Saskatchewan Party MP Christine Tell is expected to lose her re-election bid in Regina Wascana Plains to former teacher and NDP candidate Brent Blakley. Blakley’s current margin of victory stands at 505 votes.

Tell was first elected in 2007 and served as Minister of Corrections and Police, and most recently as Minister of the Environment.

CBC also predicted that the NDP would have unseated Saskatoon Silverspring, Saskatoon Southeast and Saskatoon Chief Mistawasis.

Former Minister of Corrections and Policing and Minister of Health Paul Merriman was defeated in Silverspring by Hugh Gordon, CBC has projected.

Merriman becomes the fifth minister out of five in Saskatoon or Regina to lose his seat in this election.

The mail-in vote increased Gordon’s margin from 258 votes to 391.

In Saskatoon Southeast, the NDP’s Brittney Senger has a 409-vote margin over the Saskatchewan Party’s John Owojori with 396 potential ballots remaining. Senger is expected to represent a region held by the Saskatchewan Party for 21 years.

Don Morgan, of the Saskatchewan Party, had been the Member of Parliament for Saskatoon Southeast since 2003.

CBC also projected that the NDP’s Don McBean would win in the riding of Saskatoon Chief Mistawasis. After an initial postal vote, McBean has a 512-vote advantage over Parminder Singh of the Saskatchewan Party.

Saskatchewan. The party holds Prince Albert Northcote

CBC also predicted that the Saskatchewan Party would retain its seat in Prince Albert Northcote. Incumbent Alana Ross is expected to fend off the NDP’s Nicole Rancourt for a second straight election. The margin in this vote is 133 votes.

These new projections bring the total number of projected seats to 33 for Saskatchewan. Party and 26 for the NDP. In Saskatchewan, 31 seats are needed to obtain a majority.

Saskatchewan Chief Electoral Officer Michael Boda expects the first count of mail-in ballots, which could provide a more definitive picture of what the legislature will look like, to be completed by early Wednesday evening.

Election workers began counting ballots received by mail on October 26 at 9:30 a.m. CST in Regina.

There were 32,467 requests for absentee ballots across the province, with 20,417 ballots received as of Oct. 26 to be counted on Wednesday.

Boda said priority was being given to nine precincts where the number of returned mail-in ballots could still mathematically change the party’s current position.

Boda satisfied with electoral operations

Boda said he was pleased with how the vote counting process went.

“Overall it went very, very well. We trained for this election and I think that showed across the province,” Boda said.

City results came in slowly Monday evening, with the first released around 10:30 p.m. CST, more than two hours after polls closed.

Boda said rural areas had boxes with fewer ballots, speeding up counting.

Boda had recommended using vote tabulators, which were used in by-elections, but this recommendation was rejected by a committee of MPs.

He said Elections Saskatchewan instead added 500 vote counters in areas where they were needed.

“We didn’t want the count to last until 3 a.m.,” Boda said.

“You saw that people were interested in accessibility by having the convenience of having six or seven days to vote. My recommendation is that we continue down that path.”