Long after the votes were cast electing Brenda Bakken of the Saskatchewan Party in Thursday's provincial election, the Chief Electoral Officer is investigating an allegation of an irregularity by the NDP at a Weyburn-Big Muddy polling station.

Provincially, part of the fall-out of the first minority government in the Legislature in 70 years is the question of how long the next term of office will run, starting first with which party will supply the Speaker of the House. The NDP were returned to a third term as the ruling party, but as a minority government with 29 seats to the Saskatchewan Party's 26 and the Liberals' three.

In Weyburn-Big Muddy, incumbent MLA and Highways Minister Judy Bradley went down to defeat to the Saskatchewan Party's candidate Brenda Bakken, who garnered 3,991 votes to Bradley's 2,870. Liberal candidate Joe Weisgerber received 1,353.

The Sask. Party also swept the two adjoining ridings, with Don McMorris taking down Environment Minister Lorne Scott in Indian Head-Milestone, and Doreen Eagles defeating incumbent Larry Ward in Estevan. The vote counts in Indian Head-Milestone were 3,856 for McMorris, 2,303 for Scott, 1,669 for Liberal Larry Schultz, and 187 votes for Garth Herman of the New Green Alliance.

In the allegation being levelled at the NDP in Weyburn-Big Muddy, an NDP supporter is alleged to have asked residents of a home who they were supporting on voting day, and if they were voting for Bradley the supporter took them down to vote. The person had to be requested to leave the polling area.

The returning officer for the riding, Wanda Edwards, said she was instructed to give no comment on this allegation, and referred all inquiries the Chief Electoral Officer, Jan Baker.

The official election period doesn't end until Oct. 9, said Baker in an telephone interview from Regina on Tuesday, and she cannot start any investigation until that time.

"I'm certainly aware there was an incident on polling day. However, I'm not in possession of the specifics. My returning officer handled the complaint immediately so polling could continue that day. If there was a potential contravention of the law, this office will make inquiries," said Baker.

While not referring to this specific complaint, Baker said under provincial legislation if her office determines there was an election law violated, she would seek a legal opinion from the Department of Justice on how or if to proceed further. The Chief Electoral Officer has up to two years to investigate any such complaint following an election.

In the banquet room of the Weyburn Inn, many of Brenda Bakken's supporters huddled around a television broadcasting the results of election night. After receiving hugs from many of her supporters, the new MLA for Weyburn-Big Muddy was escorted to the speaker's podium by her husband Brian while supporters cheered and sang, For She's A Jolly Good Fellow.

"The farmers of Saskatchewan have sent a message to Roy Romanow, and we're going to keep fighting until we get the money for farmers this fall," said Bakken. "I'll be your voice, I'll speak your message and we'll do it together."

Bakken hesitated with emotion when thanking her supporters, her parents and her family.

"In our home when you believe in something, fighting for what you believe in is not an option, it was just something we did," said Bakken while thanking her parents.

After her speech, Bakken said she wasn't surprised with the local results.

"The mood was out there and people decided to go out there and do it."

Bakken also said she was not surprised with the provincial results.

"We have a minority government and it's great. The NDP were declared within 15 minutes and they didn't have any idea what was going on," she said.

Listening to the results in her committee rooms in downtown Weyburn, Bradley tried to hide her disappointment with the vote result, but couldn't keep the tears at bay as she commented on the trend that swept the NDP out of the rural ridings.

"I am disappointed. You do your best; I've worked hard for this area and I've worked hard for this province, but the people here wanted a change. I just hope Brenda Bakken will represent all of these people, because it's been an honour for me to represent all these people," she said, sweeping her hand to indicate her family and campaign workers in the office.

The former cabinet minister also voiced a hope the parties will unite in their efforts to deal with the crisis facing the province's farmers, and that Bakken will be non-partisan when dealing with agricultural issues.

"We need the support of the farmers to get help in Ottawa. A united voice is vital for the farmers of this province," said Bradley.

As for what the Romanow administration should do now in the face of the political changes, she said, "We need to use a balanced approach and not run any deficits," adding the government will need to identify the top issues with the voters and try to address them as best they can.

There was no regret for the past eight years in government, added Bradley, who firmly believed the Romanow administration made a lot of progress on different issues.

"I hope Brenda will try to represent the constituents in a positive manner, and not use the negative issues," said Bradley, adding she'll probably look at getting back into teaching after taking some time off with her family.

Weisgerber had a similar concern that the sometimes negative tone of the election campaign won't be carried over into the new term of government.

"I know Brenda will do her best, but with the numbers in the legislature, it will be interesting. I have a fear that there's going to be a vindictive, negative attitude that will surface in our political discourse. That will certainly not assist us in government," he said at his campaign office, where he watched the results along with 40 supporters.

He took note of the Liberals who were successful in being elected, and said while their numbers are few, their influence in the coming session could be major.

"I think it's really significant, the numbers of seats we were able to garner - that's a disappointment. I would've liked to see a few more for Jim Melenchuk to make a more objective decision in the course of legislative debate," said Weisgerber.

The Liberals weren't wrong in the platform they put forward, he added, but they will have to reorganize themselves for the next election campaign. He won't be running the next time around, he said, but he will be involved with the Liberal party in some capacity.

The voter turnout provincially was 65.1 per cent, but the turnout was much higher in Weyburn-Big Muddy, with 75 per cent of eligible voters coming out to cast their ballot. In Indian Head-Milestone, the turnout was 70.7 per cent.

In the breakdown of the poll-by-poll results, the support for Bakken over Bradley was evident in many of the rural ridings, including Radville, Minton, Big Beaver, Bengough, Ceylon, Viceroy, Kayville, Griffin and Weyburn rural. One area Bradley thought she might make inroads was Ogema, where she had worked to bring the short-line railway into being, but the votes for both rural and the town of Ogema were in favour of Bakken.

In the city polls, Bakken only won eight of 26, while those she lost were by slim margins of 10 or 20 votes. She also won two of the four advance polls and the poll at Souris Valley Extended Care Centre.