Vancouver voters have elected independent candidate Kennedy Stewart, who edged out NPA’s mayoral candidate, Ken Sim, by fewer than 1,000 votes.
The pair was neck-in-neck in the race Saturday night, and Sim told CTV News he isn’t ready to throw in the towel.
“I think it would be disrespectful to all of our supporters to concede at this point in time. The race is incredibly close,” Sim said.
“We’re going to be talking to our advisers to see what options we have and we owe it to our supporters.”
Stewart received 49,812 votes compared to Sim’s 48,828.
On Sunday, a spokesperson with the NPA campaign office told CTV News it is unclear what the recount threshold is, adding they are waiting for the official election results.
Vancouver wasn't the only close race in British Columbia's local elections, which saw razor-thin wins of only one vote in Peachland and two votes on Bowen Island, according to unofficial results.
The Local Elections Act outlines rules for requesting a judicial recount through the B.C. Supreme Court.
It says a candidate or electoral officer can apply for a recount under several circumstances, including if the votes were not correctly accepted, ballots were not correctly rejected, and if the ballot account did not accurately record the number of votes cast.
The request must be made within six days of the declaration of official election results, which is scheduled in Vancouver on Wednesday.
While NPA’s leader did not win a seat, the party will have a strong presence at city hall with five elected councillors, including Colleen Hardwick, Lisa Dominato, Rebecca Bligh and Sarah Kirby-Yung.
With files from The Canadian Press
