Voting officials say recounts in two ridings that could determine the outcome of British ColumbiaB次元官网网址檚 election wonB次元官网网址檛 start until Sunday afternoon B次元官网网址� and it wonB次元官网网址檛 be until Monday before the makeup of the legislature is finalized.
The updated timeline provided by Elections BC says results of the Surrey City Centre recount will be posted on its website on Sunday when it is complete, while the outcome from Juan De FucaB次元官网网址擬alahat will be posted when it is finished the next day.
The initial count after the Oct. 19 election ended with neither Premier David EbyB次元官网网址檚 NDP nor the B.C. Conservatives led by John Rustad securing the 47 ridings needed for a majority.
The election agency also says in a statement that screening of uncounted absentee and mail-in ballots has identified 65,000 votes provincewide that will also be tallied from Saturday until Monday, up from the previous estimate of 49,000.
It says in a news release that a partial manual recount will also take place in Kelowna Centre, as a result of a one-vote transcription discrepancy involving a single electronic tabulator, with the problem B次元官网网址渓ikely due to election official error.B次元官网网址�
But the recount there will only involve votes that passed through the tabulator in question, and the lead held by the Conservative candidate is 148 votes, wider than the 23-vote lead held by the NDP in Juan de Fuca-Malahat and the 95 votes in Surrey City Centre.
B次元官网网址淎 ballot account is a form completed by election officials showing the number of ballots issued and the votes for each candidate, based on the tabulator results tape,B次元官网网址� the agency explained.
B次元官网网址淲hile the tabulator in question (in Kelowna Centre) passed all testing and produced results accurately, a recount of the ballots counted by that tabulator will be conducted as a result of the ballot account error.B次元官网网址�
The NDP was elected or leading in 46 ridings after the initial count, the Conservatives had 45, while the Greens won two.
If the NDP hangs on to one or both of Surrey City Centre and Juan De FucaB次元官网网址擬alahat, the party will be in a position to return to power in a minority government if it secures Green support, while if Conservatives flip both, they will have the numbers for a majority government.
The Greens could also support a Conservative-led minority government, but there are wide ideological differences between the two parties.
The recount in Kelowna Centre results from a request lodged by the NDP candidate, Loyal Woodridge.
B次元官网网址淩ecount requests in Courtenay-Comox, Maple Ridge East, Oak Bay-Gordon Head, and Surrey-Guildford did not meet the requirements B次元官网网址� and were declined,B次元官网网址� Elections BC says.
It says the tally of mail-in ballots in all districts will be updated on its website at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and whenever a districtB次元官网网址檚 tally is complete.
A small number of remaining absentee ballots, which Elections BC says represent about one per cent of the total of more than two million ballots cast, will be counted on Monday, with the results updated on its website hourly.
B次元官网网址淏ecause of B.C.B次元官网网址檚 vote anywhere model, electoral districts are counting results for multiple electoral districts. This means that voting results will not be finalized until every district has finished counting,B次元官网网址� it says.
