B.C. election race tightening according to new phone poll

With five days left on the provincial campaign trail, it appears the race for premier and ruling party is tightening.

A new poll commissioned by the Times Colonist newspaper and released this morning suggests the New Democratic Party's lead has narrowed to just four percentage points.

Oraclepoll Research Ltd. says that if an election were held today, 41 per cent of those polled would back the B.C. NDP and another 37 per cent would vote to re-elect the B.C. Liberals.

Last week, a similar online survey conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion predicted that if an election were held at that time, 41 per cent of decided voters and leaners would cast a ballot for the B.C. NDP candidate, and 34 per cent would vote Liberal.

The new poll also suggests, as last week's Angus Reid poll did, that the B.C. Green Party is on track to get 12 percent of the vote, with another 10 percent of decided voters backing the B.C. Conservatives. Undecided voters were counted as 24 per cent of those interviewed.

• Are you an undecided voter? Try out CBC's Vote Compass tool to explore your views

Polls done in March suggested the NDP had 20-point lead over the Liberals, and polls conducted as recently as last month had suggested the NDP was enjoying a 17-point lead.

Oraclepoll's telephone survey randomly selected 1,000 British Columbians who were reached between May 5 and 7. The respondents were asked, "If the provincial election were held today in British Columbia, which party's candidate would you most likely vote for?"

If the respondent was undecided, he or she was also asked, "Which party's candidate would you be leaning towards at this time?"