B.C. election recounts won't start until Sunday afternoon

VICTORIA -

Voting officials say recounts in two ridings that could determine the outcome of British Columbia's election won't start until Sunday afternoon — and it won't be until Monday before the makeup of the legislature is finalized.

The updated timeline provided by Elections BC says results of the Surrey City Centre recount will be posted on its website on Sunday when it is complete, while the outcome from Juan De Fuca—Malahat will be posted when it is finished the next day.

The initial count after the Oct. 19 election ended with neither Premier David Eby's NDP nor the B.C. Conservatives led by John Rustad securing the 47 ridings needed for a majority.

The election agency also says in a statement that screening of uncounted absentee and mail-in ballots has identified 65,000 votes provincewide that will also be tallied from Saturday until Monday, up from the previous estimate of 49,000.

It says in a news release that a partial manual recount will also take place in Kelowna Centre, as a result of a one-vote transcription discrepancy involving a single electronic tabulator, with the problem "likely due to election official error."

But the recount there will only involve votes that passed through the tabulator in question, and the lead held by the Conservative candidate is 148 votes, wider than the 23-vote lead held by the NDP in Juan de Fuca-Malahat and the 95 votes in Surrey City Centre.

"A ballot account is a form completed by election officials showing the number of ballots issued and the votes for each candidate, based on the tabulator results tape," the agency explained.

"While the tabulator in question (in Kelowna Centre) passed all testing and produced results accurately, a recount of the ballots counted by that tabulator will be conducted as a result of the ballot account error."

The NDP was elected or leading in 46 ridings after the initial count, the Conservatives had 45, while the Greens won two.

If the NDP hangs on to one or both of Surrey City Centre and Juan De Fuca—Malahat, the party will be in a position to return to power in a minority government if it secures Green support, while if Conservatives flip both, they will have the numbers for a majority government.

The Greens could also support a Conservative-led minority government, but there are wide ideological differences between the two parties.

The recount in Kelowna Centre results from a request lodged by the NDP candidate, Loyal Woodridge.

"Recount requests in Courtenay-Comox, Maple Ridge East, Oak Bay-Gordon Head, and Surrey-Guildford did not meet the requirements ... and were declined," Elections BC says.

It says the tally of mail-in ballots in all districts will be updated on its website at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and whenever a district's tally is complete.

A small number of remaining absentee ballots, which Elections BC says represent about one per cent of the total of more than two million ballots cast, will be counted on Monday, with the results updated on its website hourly.

"Because of B.C.’s vote anywhere model, electoral districts are counting results for multiple electoral districts. This means that voting results will not be finalized until every district has finished counting," it says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.