Judicial recounts underway in tightly contested B.C. election ridings

Election officials filed into an industrial building in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday morning to begin a judicial recount for the most narrowly won riding in British Columbia's election — starting with 28 extra ballots found to have gone unreported days after the vote. 

The recount will decide if the B.C. NDP's one-seat majority stands, after the party claimed victory in Surrey-Guildford with a margin of just 27 votes over the B.C. Conservatives. 

That result gave Premier David Eby's party the narrowest majority of 47 seats in the legislature. 

Jill Lawrance, executive director of electoral operations at Elections B.C., told reporters on Thursday that officials would be counting 19,090 ballots in the judicial recount, which includes more 1,600 votes that were cast outside of the riding. 

She says the recount — which is being done by 10 teams of two counters and two scrutineers — is expected to roll into Friday, and would begin by examining envelopes that contain the 28 ballots that Elections B.C. said were unreported because of a data-entry mistake. 

A full recount count has also started in Kelowna Centre, where the Conservative candidate led the NDP candidate by 38 votes.

A partial recount will take place Friday in the riding of Prince George-Mackenzie after the discovery of a ballot box containing 861 votes. The Conservative candidate in that riding has already been declared the winner, as they are leading the NDP candidate by more than 5,000 votes.

Makeshift courtroom

In Surrey, a makeshift courtroom was constructed using wooden desks and grey room dividers where B.C. Supreme Court Justice Kevin Loo called the session into order before addressing workers and the hand-count began.

The teams of counters, who lined tables along the perimeter of the warehouse, were paired with scrutineers from the NDP and the Conservatives and could be seen holding ballots in the air and agreeing on each vote.

Lawrance said teams "make their best assessment of the intent of the voter."

"If scrutineers raise an objection, both parties come to the table and if they agree on the vote, the judge has indicated he doesn't need to see it," Lawrance explained Thursday.

"But if there's a disagreement about who that vote should count for, that ballot will be brought to the judge, he will look at the ballot, hear arguments from both sides and determine who the vote should count for."

Elections B.C. spokesperson Andrew Watson says the recounts are expected to conclude Friday, but certification won't happen until next week following an appeal period.

The Election Act says the deadline to appeal the results must be filed with the court within two days after they are declared, but Watson says that due to Remembrance Day on Monday, that period would end at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

When an appeal is filed, it must be heard no later than 10 days after the registrar receives the notice of appeal.

Eby said in a statement Wednesday that the judicial recounts will ensure every vote is counted. After those recounts, he said B.C. residents want to see "urgent action" on priorities including affordability and housing, health care, and building a strong economy.