B.C. election results: What is a judicial recount and how long does it take?

Mandatory judicial recounts will happen in two B.C. ridings, further prolonging the province’s nail-bitingly close 2024 election and potentially impacting the outcome.

Elections B.C. announced recounts in the Surrey-Guildford and Kelowna Centre ridings Monday, after the final vote count was complete and signalled a win for the B.C. NDP. 

“A judicial recount is conducted by the Supreme Court of British Columbia and may include some or all of the ballots and certification envelopes for an election,” said a news release.

If the winners in the two races are unchanged by the judicial recount, the NDP will have the 47 seats needed for a majority.

But when will those recounts happen and when will British Columbians know the results?

The answer, which many will likely find unsatisfying, is that it’s too soon to know for certain.

The timeline for a judicial recount is laid out in the province’s Elections Act. The earliest it can start is seven days after the final count – the day after the deadline for applications, which Elections B.C. says is Nov. 4.

That means the soonest a recount will get underway is Tuesday, Nov. 5. The date for the recount also must be within 15 days of the final count.

“The timing of the recount will be determined by the court,” the statement from Elections B.C. said.

Judicial recounts are mandatory in ridings where the top two candidates are separated by less than 1/500th of the total ballots counted.

In Surrey-Guildford, B.C. Conservative candidate Honveer Singh Randhawa was ahead by 103 votes in the initial count on election night. But the B.C. NDP’s Gary Begg was in the lead by 27 votes after the final count – fewer than the 38 required in order to trigger a recount.

In Kelowna Centre, Conservative candidate Kristina Loewen was ahead of the NDP’s Loyal Wooldridge by 148 votes on election night, but saw that lead shrink to 38 in the final count. A recount in that riding would have been mandatory in the event that the difference invotes was 49 or fewer.

In ridings where judicial reviews are not mandatory, they can be requested by making a court application. An individual voter, candidate, or district electoral officer can file the application on ground including that “unopened or resealed certification envelopes or secrecy enclosures contain ballots that should be considered” or “that a ballot account does not accurately record the number of votes for a candidate,” according to the legislation.

In 2020, a judicial recount was ordered in the West Vancouver-Sea to Sky riding. The candidate who was leading after the final count was confirmed the winner, but the margin of victory changed slightly – increasing from 41 ballots to 60. In that case, the recount was complete 10 days after the final count.

The results of a judicial recount can also be appealed. The deadline for an appeal to be filed with the court is two days after the results of the recount are declared. A hearing must be held within 10 days of the application for appeal being filed.