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NDP widens lead, but BC election remains too close to call
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NDP widens lead, but BC election remains too close to call

There is still no clear winner in British Columbia’s 2024 election after counting resumed Saturday, but new numbers from Elections BC show the NDP gaining ground.

The party now leads the BC Conservatives by 106 votes in the Juan de Fuca-Malahat riding, up from 20, and by 178 votes in downtown Surrey, up from 93. The NDP also tightened the race in Surrey-Guildford, now just 12 votes behind the Conservatives, down from 103.

The updated numbers came in throughout the day Saturday as election officials began counting the 65,000 mail-in and mail-in ballots that had yet to be counted. These counts, as well as several precinct recounts, are expected to continue Sunday and Monday.

Before Saturday, the BC NDP was leading or elected with 46 seats, the BC Conservatives with 45 seats and the BC Greens with two seats. In the British Columbia Legislative Assembly, 47 seats are needed to form a majority government.

No ridings were flipped due to the updated results, but CBC News upgraded four ridings in which the NDP was leading toward projected victories, as well as one riding in which the Conservatives were leading toward a projected victory.

WATCH | Potential election results in British Columbia:

What are the possible outcomes of the elections that have not yet been called in British Columbia?

While the winner of the British Columbia election has yet to be determined, political scientist Hamish Telford sheds light on what could happen next and says it’s possible the NDP will seek a partnership with the Greens like the one he had after the 2017 vote.

The full results of the 2024 elections will not be made official until after two recounts on Sunday and Monday.

These will include the ridings of Juan de Fuca-Malahat and downtown Surrey, where the NDP made gains on Saturday but whose initial margin of victory was less than 100 votes.

A week-long cliffhanger

British Columbians have been waiting all week to find out who their next government will be.

In fact, Elections BC had to count approximately 65,000 absentee and absentee ballots sent after the close of advance voting, and was mandated by law wait until Saturday to start doing it.

While results from most precincts this weekend will be tallied using electronic tabulators, recounts in the Juan de Fuca-Malahat and Surrey City Center precincts will be done manually.

The final count will then be completed on Monday with the counting of more than 22,000 postal ballots. Results will be updated on the Election BC website every hour that day.

Any precinct where the margin of victory is 100 votes or less is subject to an automatic recount. Parties can also request a recount in neighboring districts.

A person hands a voter card to an election agent.
A sample voter card is used to demonstrate the new electronic tabulators, which were used at most polling stations in British Columbia during this year’s provincial election. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)

In response to a question from CBC News about whether Surrey-Guildford – where the Conservative lead narrowed to less than 100 votes – would also see a recount, Elections BC said it would know the answer on Monday .

“Once the final count is completed on October 28, we will be able to confirm whether a district will be subject to an automatic judicial recount,” spokesman Andrew Watson said in an email.

“If the difference between the top two candidates at the end of the final count is less than 1/500th of the total ballots considered, there will be an automatic judicial recount in that district.”