BC election results: NDP leads in Juan de Fuca-Malahat after recount

The last of three recounts in British Columbia’s closely contested provincial election has concluded, with BC NDP candidate Dana Lajeunesse still leading in the Juan de Fuca-Malahat riding.

The final results of the Vancouver Island recount have Lajeunesse ahead of BC Conservative contender Marina Sapozhnikov by 116 votes.

The NDP candidate led the Conservative candidate by just 23 votes after the initial count on election night on October 19. He moved further ahead after mail-in and telephone ballots were counted over the weekend, ahead of the start of the recount on Sunday.

After most of the mail-in and absentee ballots were counted, Lajeunesse’s lead increased to 113 votes over Sapozhnikov.

B.C.’s elections still counted an estimated 185 absentee ballots on Monday.

Lajeunesse currently has 9,249 votes to Sapozhnikov’s 9,133 votes, while David Evans of the BC Green Party has 5,494 votes.

In an update Monday afternoon, Elections BC said it would complete counting the remaining absentee ballots in the riding before certifying the result.

Lajeunesse, a Sooke resident, was elected as a councilor in the district in 2019 and was re-elected in 2022.

Two other recounts completed this weekend also did not change the results of those rides.

The BC NDP’s Amna Shah remained in the lead in central Surrey over BC Conservative opponent Zeeshan Wahla, while a partial recount in Kelowna Center showed Conservative candidate Kristina Loewen leading NDP candidate Loyal Wooldridge.

Related: BC NDP is leading the way in the key position that could help the party win the majority

In the provincial standings, the NDP is currently leading or being elected in 47 votes, with the Conservatives leading or being elected in 44 votes and the Greens being elected in two seats. A party must win 47 seats to form a majority government in BC’s 93-seat legislature.

Elections BC provided hourly updates Monday as it counted the more than 22,000 absentee ballots still outstanding in elections across the province.

While the latest counts should provide a clear picture of the makeup of B.C.’s legislature, provincial election rules state that judicial recounts can still be ordered if the margin of victory in a riding is less than 1/500th of all votes cast.

In the Juan de Fuca-Malahat riding, where an estimated 23,875 votes were cast, the margin for a judicial recount would be about 48 votes or less.