The lieutenant governor asked British Columbia Premier David Eby. Janet Austin will form the next government after postal vote counts gave the New Democrats a narrow victory in the provincial election.

The election came down to just a handful of votes. The NDP gained enough seats to form a majority government, although that result was subject to two automatic recounts.

Eby says he met with Austin on Monday, nine days after the vote, and will “work hard every day to earn the trust” British Columbians have placed in the party.

Austin said in a separate statement that Eby told him “he is prepared to continue as prime minister.”

An NDP victory in Surrey-Guildford – where it finished with a 27-vote lead after all outstanding ballots were counted – gave it the narrowest majority of 47 seats in the 93-seat legislature . A judicial recount is looming as the margin is so tight.

Eby did not say whether he would form a majority or minority government, but Green leader Sonia Furstenau said in a statement that it appears the parties will have to work together for the legislature to function effectively.

The British Columbia Conservatives, led by John Rustad, finished the count with at least 44 seats.

With no clear winner on election night, results from a handful of undecided precincts came down to the final tally of mail-in ballots Monday.

Here is a timeline of key moments:

October 10-16 — Hundreds of advance polls opened across the province and a record number of British Columbians came out to vote before election day on October 19.

Elections BC says 1,001,331 people voted during the advance voting period, the highest ever in a British Columbia election.

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October 19 — Election Day in British Columbia comes amid an atmospheric river that floods much of the coast, killing three people, two in a road collapse, another when her home was swept away by a landslide. ground.

By the end of the evening, David Eby’s New Democrats were elected or leading in 46 ridings, John Rustad’s British Columbia Conservatives in 45 and the Greens, led by Sonia Furstenau, had won two ridings. No party reached the 47 seats needed for a majority and a handful of constituencies were too close to call.

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October 20 — Elections BC estimates approximately 49,000 mail-in and mail-in ballots will be counted in the final count.

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October 24 — After reviewing the votes, Elections BC increases the number of uncounted absentee and mail-in ballots to approximately 65,000.

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October 25 — Elections BC releases figures showing where 43,538 absentee and telephone votes remain to be counted, along with 22,536 special and absentee ballots.

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October 26 — The counting of postal votes begins. No riding changed hands, but the NDP widened its lead in close races and significantly reduced the Conservative lead in Surrey-Guildford, from 103 to just 12 votes.

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October 27 — The count of postal votes continues, with the overall race still too close to call. The stories begin in Juan de Fuca-Malahat, downtown Surrey and central Kelowna. The recount in downtown Surrey reduces the NDP lead to 175 votes from 178 votes.

A partial recount of ballots run through a tabulator in Kelowna Center gives the Conservatives a 68-vote lead.

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October 28 — Each electoral district in the province is carrying out the final count of more than 22,000 postal and special ballots, starting at 9 a.m. The NDP wins in close races to give it a total of 47 seats, but there will be an automatic recount in two ridings. Eby meets with Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin, who asks him to form government.