National

Absentee ballot count could settle B.C.'s election, nine days after vote

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 28 Oct, 2024 09:56 AM

British Columbia's election could finally be decided Monday with the counting of absentee ballots, after recounts and a tally of mail-in votes failed to settle the contest on the weekend.

Neither Premier David Eby's New Democrats nor John Rustad's B.C. Conservatives emerged from the weekend with the magic number of 47 seats required to form a majority in the province's 93-seat legislature.

But the counting increased the prospects for an NDP government, when the Conservative lead in Surrey-Guildford was cut to just 12 votes.

All eyes will be on that Metro Vancouver seat when counting resumes at 9 a.m., with 226 absentee votes to count there.

More than 22,000 absentee ballots provincewide that are to be counted Monday could hold the key to the Oct. 19 election, and Elections BC says it will provide hourly updates of the results.

The current standings have the NDP leading or elected in 46 ridings, with the B.C. Conservatives leading or elected in 45 and the Greens with two elected members.

If the NDP wins Surrey-Guildford and hangs onto all other ridings where it leads, it will secure the narrowest of majorities.

Elections BC says there was no shift in the party standings after the weekend count of mail-in and assisted-telephone ballots was completed on Sunday.

A full hand recount in Surrey City Centre resulted in the NDP lead there being reduced by three votes, to 175, while a partial recount in Kelowna Centre saw the Conservative lead cut by four votes, to 68.

The result of a full recount in Juan de Fuca-Malahat, where the NDP lead by 113 votes, is also to be announced Monday.

While the makeup of the legislature could become clear, judicial recounts could still take place after that if the margin in a riding is less than 1/500th of all votes cast.

For example, in the closest race of Surrey-Guildford, where an estimated 19,306 were cast, the margin for a judicial recount is about 38 votes or fewer.

Aisha Estey, president of the B.C. Conservative Party, said she spent the weekend in a warehouse watching the counting of mail-in ballots.

In a post on social media, she said: "Elections BC staff have been working tirelessly and doing their best within the confines of the legislation that governs their work."

"Would we have liked mail-ins to be counted closer to (election day)? Sure," she added. "But I saw nothing that caused me concern."

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

'I wish my father was here': Tobacco victims hail bittersweet $32.5-billion deal

Under a newly proposed deal, JTI-Macdonald Corp., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. would pay close to $25 billion to provinces and territories.

'I wish my father was here': Tobacco victims hail bittersweet $32.5-billion deal

Housing, health, and plastic straws: Here's how B.C. politicians are wooing voters

British Columbia's political party leaders have spent the 28-day provincial election campaign wooing voters with promises on critical issues including health care, housing, the cost of living and the environment. Here is a look at some of the top promises made by each major party ahead of election day on Saturday:

Housing, health, and plastic straws: Here's how B.C. politicians are wooing voters

Testy B.C. election campaign sees leaders attacking each other more than policy

British Columbia's election campaign enters its final day in what is viewed as a too-close-to-call contest where David Eby's New Democrats and the B.C. Conservatives led by John Rustad debated big issues of housing, health care, affordability and the overdose crisis, but also tangled over plastic straws and a billionaire’s billboards. The two main party leaders spent a lot of time telling voters why they shouldn't vote for the other rather than presenting their own case for support.

Testy B.C. election campaign sees leaders attacking each other more than policy

House committee to summon RCMP, ministers over allegations of Indian interference

The head of the RCMP and Canada's ministers of foreign affairs and public safety will be summoned to testify at a House of Commons committee about the bombshell allegations made this week about Indian state-sponsored interference in Canada. The national security committee agreed to call RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme along with Mélanie Joly and Dominic LeBlanc in a special meeting this morning.

House committee to summon RCMP, ministers over allegations of Indian interference

3 arrested in Whalley stabbing

Mounties in Surrey say three people have been arrested in the stabbing of a woman in the Whalley neighbourhood earlier this month. They say the assault happened around 12:30 a-m on October 6th, and the R-C-M-P released photos and videos of the suspects 10 days later.

3 arrested in Whalley stabbing

Weather warnings issued as atmospheric river approaches B.C. coast

Environment Canada has issued several rainfall warnings for British Columbia, covering much of Vancouver Island and the coastal regions as the first atmospheric river of the season approaches. It says heavy rain is expected to reach inland sections of the central coast that will intensify throughout the day before peaking this afternoon, bringing up to 70 millimetres.