NDP add two seats as mail-in ballots are counted

Just as Americans waited days for election results, so did we here in British Columbia … albeit a little less breathlessly and with less on the line.

When voting was completed October 24, it was pretty clear the NDP had formed a majority government, even with hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots yet to be counted. Now they have been counted and the NDP solidified its majority by picking up two more seats, at the expense of the Liberals. The Liberals also picked up a seat, at the expense of the Green Party (although a recount will be held in that riding as the Liberals are ahead by only 41 votes).

At the conclusion of final count the election results were as follows:

Voting results for each electoral district by party and candidate are available on the Elections BC website atresults.elections.bc.ca.

The results did not change in either Prince George riding with Liberal Shirley Bond retaining Prince George-Valemount and Liberal Mike Morris keeping Prince George-Mackenzie.

Following the conclusion of final count, a candidate is declared elected in each electoral district and the District Electoral Officer returns the writ of election to the Chief Electoral Officer. The Chief Electoral Officer then reports the candidate elected to the Clerk of the House, formally ending the 42^nd Provincial General Election in that electoral district.

A writ cannot be returned until at least six days following the end of final count – the period within which a judicial recount can be requested. The writs of election will be returned the week of November 16 in every electoral district except West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, which is subject to an automatic judicial recount.

An automatic judicial recount must take place when the difference between the top two candidates is less than 1/500 of the total ballots considered. For more information, see https://elections.bc.ca/news/media-advisory-final-count-complete-in-west-vancouver-sea-to-sky-judicial-recount-to-be-held/.

The Supreme Court of British Columbia will determine when the judicial recount takes place. West Vancouver-Sea to Sky’s writ will be returned once the judicial recount is complete.

For more information on judicial recounts, see Elections BC’s Guide to Voting and Counting athttps://elections.bc.ca/docs/guidebooks/879-Guide-to-Voting-and-Counting.pdf.

Premier John Horgan issued the following statement after the final results were released.

“I’m humbled and honoured by the support British Columbians have shown for our BC NDP team and want to wish a warm welcome to the newest members of our team of 57 BC NDP MLAs.

“Thank you Elections BC staff and volunteers for making voting easy and safe for everyone. Thanks to everyone who put their names forward as candidates. 

“COVID-19 is presenting us with new challenges each day, and we need to keep the focus where it belongs: keeping ourselves, our families and our communities healthy, safe and secure. We will get through this together.

“Just like we have for the last three and a half years, we’re going to do our level best each and every day to keep BC moving forward and build a better future for everyone.

“That’s my commitment to you.“