Elections BC began counting 180,000 absentee ballots this morning, and plans to announce final results on Wednesday.

Absentee ballots include votes cast by people outside their home constituencies, mail-in votes from outside the province or country, and votes cast at special polling stations.

According to Elections BC, the number of absentee ballots cast this election is double that of 2009, and could change the results in some close ridings.

Six ridings saw races where fewer than 500 votes separate the front runners.

The following are ridings where the Liberal candidate narrowly beat the NDP candidate:

Coquitlam-Maillardville

Surrey-Fleetwood

Delta North

And in these ridings, the NDP candidate narrowly beat the Liberal candidate:

Saanich North and the Islands

Burnaby Lougheed

Skeena

Vancouver-Point Grey was another close race. The NDP's David Eby beat Premier Christy Clark by 785 votes. Clark said she would wait until the final count is complete before deciding which riding to run in a by-election.

Elections BC will also re-count all votes in Saanich North and the Islands. The NDP's Gary Holman won with just 50 more votes than Liberal candidate Stephen Roberts; Adam Olsen of the Green Party was a close third.

Colleen Kimmett reports for The Tyee.