Ballots won’t be counted a second time in Richmond-Queensborough.
Elections B.C. has rejected four recount requests – three made by the B.C. NDP and one by the B.C. Liberals – on the grounds the requests didn’t meet the requirements laid out in the Elections Act.
Richmond-Queensborough, where B.C. Liberal candidate Jas Johal defeated NDP candidate Aman Singh by 263 votes, was one of three Lower Mainland ridings the NDP asked to be recounted. The other two were Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, where the NDP incumbent was beaten by 268 seats, and Vancouver-False Creek, where NDP candidate Morgane Oger lost to Liberal incumbent Sam Sullivan by 560 votes. The B.C. Liberals asked for a recount in Maple Ridge-Mission.
But, in order for a recount to take place, the difference between the top two candidates can be no greater than 100 votes. A recount request would also be accepted if there is evidence “ballots were not correctly accepted or rejected, or that a ballot account does not accurately record the number of votes for a candidate,” according to a press release from Elections B.C.
There were two recount requests made that did fit the criteria and will go ahead shortly, according to Elections B.C.
A recount will take place in Courtney-Comox, where the Liberal candidate lost by nine votes, and Vancouver-False Creek where B.C. Citizens First Party candidate Philip James Ryan proved there was a problem with the ballot count – an advance voting ballot account recorded 403 votes for one candidate, while the tally sheet and parcel envelope containing the ballots showed 399 votes for the candidate, according to Elections B.C.
The official election results, including absentee ballots, for all provincial ridings will be counted between May 22 and 24.
