Tense days of ballot counting ahead as B.C. election hangs in the balance

Nearly a week after the big night, there's still not a declared winner in the B.C. election.

Elections B.C. says it has 65,000 mail-in and absentee ballots to count starting Saturday, plus three riding recounts—two because it's so close—and one for a possible count error, which likely won't be complete until Monday.

Digital tabulators produced faster results on the night, but their absence in some ridings, the option to vote outside your own riding via absentee ballot, deadlines for mail-in ballots right up to 8 p.m. election night, and a delay of seven days before the final count, mean British Columbians won't know who their government is for more than a week after the big night.

“Elections B.C.’s system is very unique, but one of the benefits of that is it is very accessible,” said Andrew Watson with Elections B.C.

The digital counters, which were rolled out for the first time in B.C. for a general election, didn’t go seamlessly. In Surrey-Cloverdale, a lost password halted the process midstream.

Frustration with the overall process that is slower in B.C. than other provinces could lead to changes.

“We’ll produce a full report of the chief electoral officer looking at what went well, what could be improved and potentially the chief electoral officer may make recommendations for legislative change,” said Watson.

Adding to the tension, this race was incredibly tight, the NDP seemingly holding the slimmest of leads.

“The surround, the mathematical surround, is such that this is the closest election in B.C. history,” said David Black from Royal Roads University.

Of the recounts, the Juan de Fuca-Malahat riding is one with a mere 20-vote NDP lead. As well, another 10 seats could conceivably change hands with mail-in and absentee ballots.

“We’ve got two parties virtually tied in seats, virtually tied in the popular vote,” said Hamish Telford, a political science professor at the University of the Fraser Valley.

Now the province is waiting to see which one squeaked out a win.

Elections B.C. plans to announce the distribution of yet-to-be counted-votes in each riding on Friday, in advance of the recounts and final count processes taking place over the weekend.