Elections BC has ordered recounts in two ridings where the BC NDP candidate beat the BC Conservative competitor by less than 100 votes.Neither Premier David Eby's and the incumbents nor John Rustad and his crew of newcomers were able to secure a majority by the end of the initial count, thus any changes in the results could shift the balance of power dramatically.According to Elections BC, the two ridings in which the margins were slimmest were Juan de Fuca-Malahat and Surrey City Centre. In the former, NDP candidate Dana Lajeunesse came out just 23 votes ahead of the Conservatives' Marina Sapozhnikov, while in the latter NDP candidate Amna Shah bested the Conservatives' Zeeshan Wahla by 96 votes. There were a number of other close races, such as Surrey Guildford, where Conservative candidate Honveer Singh Randhawa beat the NDP's Garry Begg by 102 votes, and Kelowna-Centre, where Conservative candidate Kristina Loewen came out 148 votes ahead of the NDP's Loyal Woodridge.Mandatory recounts, which under the Election Act are required when less than 100 votes separate the top two candidates, were ordered for Juan de Fuca-Malahat and Surrey City Centre upon completion of the initial count on Sunday. They will take place as part of the final count between October 26 and 28, and be done by hand. The final count will also include around 49,000 additional ballots not counted on Election Day, most of which are mail-in ballots. Once the final count is completed, judicial recounts may take place. They are overseen by a justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, and are required when the difference between the top two candidates is less than 1/500th of the total number of ballots cast. A candidate can also request that such a recount takes place, though they must do so by November 4, six days after the final count.
Elections BC has ordered recounts in two ridings where the BC NDP candidate beat the BC Conservative competitor by less than 100 votes.Neither Premier David Eby's and the incumbents nor John Rustad and his crew of newcomers were able to secure a majority by the end of the initial count, thus any changes in the results could shift the balance of power dramatically.According to Elections BC, the two ridings in which the margins were slimmest were Juan de Fuca-Malahat and Surrey City Centre. In the former, NDP candidate Dana Lajeunesse came out just 23 votes ahead of the Conservatives' Marina Sapozhnikov, while in the latter NDP candidate Amna Shah bested the Conservatives' Zeeshan Wahla by 96 votes. There were a number of other close races, such as Surrey Guildford, where Conservative candidate Honveer Singh Randhawa beat the NDP's Garry Begg by 102 votes, and Kelowna-Centre, where Conservative candidate Kristina Loewen came out 148 votes ahead of the NDP's Loyal Woodridge.Mandatory recounts, which under the Election Act are required when less than 100 votes separate the top two candidates, were ordered for Juan de Fuca-Malahat and Surrey City Centre upon completion of the initial count on Sunday. They will take place as part of the final count between October 26 and 28, and be done by hand. The final count will also include around 49,000 additional ballots not counted on Election Day, most of which are mail-in ballots. Once the final count is completed, judicial recounts may take place. They are overseen by a justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, and are required when the difference between the top two candidates is less than 1/500th of the total number of ballots cast. A candidate can also request that such a recount takes place, though they must do so by November 4, six days after the final count.
