BC NDP majority confirmed after Surrey-Guildford judicial recount wraps

The BC NDP’s slim majority is confirmed Friday, as the judicial recount in the Surrey-Guildford riding has concluded, nearly three weeks after the provincial election.

Judges began hand-counting ballots in the riding Thursday, where the BC NDP candidate then led by just 21 votes. Now, it is confirmed that incumbent BC NDP MLA Garry Begg has held onto his marginal lead by a final 22 votes.

Keeping Surrey-Guildford was crucial for the NDP to maintain its 47-seat majority.

Judges also began hand-counting ballots in the Kelowna Centre riding Friday, where initial counts show BC Conservatives candidate Kristina Loewen with a slim lead. The results of this recount have not yet been released.

The Election Act says the deadline to appeal the results must be filed with the court within two days after they are declared, but Elections BC spokesman Andrew 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.

Another partial recount took place in Prince George-Mackenzie to tally votes from an uncounted ballot box that contained about 861 votes. The recount shows that BC Conservative candidate Kiel Giddens had a lead of over 6,000 votes.

—With files from Emma Crawford and The Canadian Press