A recount in Surrey-City Centre shows NDP candidate Amna Shah holding a 175-vote lead over Conservative challenger Zeeshan Wahla — all but assuring a victory for the New Democrats in the riding heading into tomorrow's absentee ballot count.
Elections BC announced the recount results at 8:33 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27. At the end of the recount, the results stand at 6,618 votes for Shah to 6,443 for Wahla.
That's a three-vote adjustment from the final count results as of 4 p.m. today (Sunday). Shah held 6,619 votes to Conservative Zeeshan Wahla's 6,441, widening her lead from the 93-vote separation heading into the final count weekend.
The recount included all ballots for the riding that were counted on election night, plus ballots cast by voters on Election Day in other districts. All ballots were hand-counted.
Now all eyes will be on absentee ballot counting on Monday (Oct. 28) as Elections BC's final count heads towards the finish line in B.C.'s too-close-to-call provincial election.
There are a reported 175 absentee ballots left to count in Surrey-City Centre, meaning Shah will almost certainly stay atop the vote count tomorrow.
The race is less certain in Surrey-Guildford, where 226 absentee ballots are scheduled to be counted tomorrow.
In Surrey-Guildford, NDP incumbent Garry Begg moved to within 12 votes of Conservative candidate Honveer Singh Randhawa after mail-in votes were counted on Saturday (Oct. 26). Begg has now climbed to 8,809 votes, compared to Randhawa's 8,821 — closing the original 103-vote gap.
All mail-in and assisted telephone ballots have now been counted.
With the provincial race sitting at 46 NDP, 45 Conservative and two Green, this weekend's final count will determine whether any party has achieved the 47 seats necessary for a majority government, or whether a coalition or agreement with the Greens will be necessary for either the NDP's David Eby or Conservative John Rustad to become the next premier.
Flipping the Surrey-Guildford riding to the New Democrats could give Eby the 47 seats needed for a majority.
On Friday, Oct. 25, Elections BC announced the number of certification envelopes it would be opening as part of the final count, including mail-in and assisted telephone votes, plus special and absentee ballots. Those ballots total 66,074 across B.C.'s 93 electoral districts, including 22,536 absentee ballots left for Monday's count.
Begg had applied for a recount in Surrey-Guildford leading up to the weekend, but Elections BC denied that request. Whether a recount is now looming in that riding will depend upon the results of the final count, after absentee ballot counting is finished tomorrow (Monday, Oct. 28).
Elections BC spokesperson Wesley MacInnis noted that, once final count is complete on Oct. 28, Elections BC will be able to confirm if a district will go to an automatic judicial recount. If the difference between the top two candidates following the conclusion of final count is less than 1/500th of the total ballots considered, there will be an automatic judicial recount in that district.
In Surrey-Guildford right now, that would mean a margin of difference of about 37 votes or fewer, depending on the final number of ballots.
The outcome of other Surrey ridings is now no longer in doubt, regardless of the absentee ballots.
In Surrey-Panorama, Conservative Bryan Tepper leads NDP incumbent Jinny Sims by 280 votes, as of the Sunday 4 p.m. update. In that riding, 196 absentee ballots remain to be counted. In Surrey-Serpentine River, Conservative Linda Hepner is up 475 votes win over the NDP's Baltej Singh Dhillon, with 210 absentee votes left to be counted.
In Surrey-Cloverdale, Conservative Elenore Sturko holds a 616-vote lead over the NDP's Mike Starchuk, with 221 absentee ballots to count.
In the remaining five Surrey ridings, the final count will also have no impact on the outcome, since the number of votes left to count is smaller than the margin of victory. Those are:
- Surrey South: Conservative Brian Chapman up by 3,859 votes, with 200 absentee ballots left to report
- Surrey North: Conservative Mandeep Dhaliwal up by 1,189 votes, with 187 absentee ballots left to count
- Surrey-White Rock: Conservative Trevor Halford up by 1,969 votes, with 228 absentee ballots left to count
- Surrey-Newton: NDP Jessie Sunner up by 1,211 votes, with 160 absentee ballots left to count
- Surrey-Fleetwood: NDP Jagrup Brar up by 674 votes, with 209 absentee ballots left to count
(Elections BC notes that the number of mail-in and absentee ballots counted may still change slightly, as each certification envelope must be scrutinized and verified. Certification envelopes that contain no ballot or more than one marked ballot will not be counted.)
Final counts will wind up by Oct. 28, when absentee ballots are slated to be counted. Absentee ballot counts will be reported hourly on Monday, Oct. 28 by Elections BC as the count progresses.
