Close X
Saturday, November 16, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. election: NDP cuts margin in key riding to four votes as absentee count goes on

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 28 Oct, 2024 12:04 PM
  • B.C. election: NDP cuts margin in key riding to four votes as absentee count goes on

An ongoing count of absentee ballots in British Columbia's election has seen the NDP cut the B.C. Conservatives' lead in a key riding to just four votes.

If the NDP wins Surrey-Guildford and holds onto other leads, it will be elected or leading in 47 seats, which is the threshold for a majority in the legislature.

Monday's count of more than 22,000 absentee and special ballots provincewide could finally produce a winner in the election, nine days after the Oct. 19 vote.

Recounts and a tally of mail-in votes failed to settle the contest on the weekend, with neither Premier David Eby's New Democrats nor John Rustad's B.C. Conservatives emerging on Sunday with a majority.

But the mail-in count increased the prospects for an NDP government when the Conservative lead in Surrey-Guildford was cut sharply.

All eyes have been on that Metro Vancouver seat since counting resumed at 9 a.m., with 226 absentee votes to count, and results are being updated hourly on the Elections BC website.

In the first two hours of counting, the Conservative lead in Surrey-Guildford was cut from 12 to 4 votes.

The party went into the weekend's count of mail-in and assisted telephone votes with a lead of 103.

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.

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

In Surrey-Guildford, where an estimated 19,306 votes were cast, the margin for a judicial recount is about 38 votes or fewer.

A full hand recount on Sunday 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.

That has been a further cut to 60 in the absentee count.

The result of a full recount in Juan de Fuca-Malahat, where the NDP lead by 109 votes, is also to be announced Monday.

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."

MORE National ARTICLES

Small 3.1 earthquake shakes B.C.'s southern Okanagan region

Small 3.1 earthquake shakes B.C.'s southern Okanagan region
A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was felt in parts of the British Columbia Interior Monday afternoon. Earthquakes Canada says it happened at 2:07 p.m. about seven kilometres northwest of Oliver, which is 390 kilometres east of Vancouver.  

Small 3.1 earthquake shakes B.C.'s southern Okanagan region

Private forecasters see economic growth in B.C. slowing to 0.5 per cent next year

Private forecasters see economic growth in B.C. slowing to 0.5 per cent next year
Private-sector forecasters in British Columbia say they agree with the government's recent projection that economic growth will slow next year. The Economic Forecast Council, an independent 13-member group, met Finance Minister Katrine Conroy on Monday and told her they foresee 0.5-per-cent growth in 2024, slightly below Conroy's recent forecast of 0.7 per cent.

Private forecasters see economic growth in B.C. slowing to 0.5 per cent next year

B.C. Premier Eby celebrates 'first-of-its-kind' seamless addictions care

B.C. Premier Eby celebrates 'first-of-its-kind' seamless addictions care
Eby says the model addresses people who repeatedly overdose in a way that respects their ability to make their own decisions and avoids the risk that they won't call for help if they think they might be held against their will.

B.C. Premier Eby celebrates 'first-of-its-kind' seamless addictions care

Calls intensify for Canada to bring extended family of Canadians safely out of Gaza

Calls intensify for Canada to bring extended family of Canadians safely out of Gaza
Canada has negotiated with Israel and Egypt to get approximately 600 people through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, as of the last update from Global Affairs. The only people who qualify are Canadians, Canadian permanent residents and people who meet the government's strict definition of an eligible family member, though there have been exceptions.

Calls intensify for Canada to bring extended family of Canadians safely out of Gaza

Targeted shooting early Monday morning in White Rock

Targeted shooting early Monday morning in White Rock
Mounties in White Rock confirm shots were fired in the city earlier today. No injuries were reported, but police say they suspect the shooting was targeted. Police are investigating a motive.

Targeted shooting early Monday morning in White Rock

Canada's grocery retail sector one of the most competitive on Earth: Sobeys CEO

Canada's grocery retail sector one of the most competitive on Earth: Sobeys CEO
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced this fall that Canada's major grocers — Loblaw, Metro, Empire, Walmart and Costco — had shared plans to tackle rising prices that included discounts, price freezes and price-matching campaigns. However, questions swirled about what exactly the grocers promised, given the details of the plans were not being shared publicly.

Canada's grocery retail sector one of the most competitive on Earth: Sobeys CEO