B.C. Conservative candidate abandons lawsuit after claiming 'irregularities' in 2024 election
CBC
The B.C. Conservative candidate for the Surrey-Guildford riding in the 2024 provincial election, which was narrowly won by the B.C. NDP, has now abandoned a lawsuit that sought to invalidate that result.
Honveer Singh Randhawa had claimed in B.C. Supreme Court that the election of the NDP's Garry Begg — which was confirmed via judicial recount to be a slim margin of 22 votes — saw multiple voting irregularities taking place.
Randhawa further claimed that at a care home facility in the riding called Argyll Lodge, two residents who don't speak English and didn't request mail-in ballots were intimidated by staff to fill out ballots for the NDP.
On Tuesday, however, Elections B.C. confirmed that Randhawa had discontinued his Supreme Court petition on the issue.
"The court did not make any determinations about whether any of the alleged contraventions of the Election Act occurred," read a statement from the non-partisan office.
"Elections [B.C.] remains confident that voting in the 2024 Provincial Election was free, fair, and secure," the statement added.
The non-partisan office that administers elections in the province had suspended its own review of Randhawa's allegations, pending the outcome of the court case.
Its Tuesday statement says it would now consider its next steps regarding Randhawa's complaint.
CBC News has reached out to Randhawa for this story, but did not immediately hear back.
In a statement to The Canadian Press, Randhawa said that the process has cost more than $200,000 to date.
In a review of the 2024 election released in May, Elections B.C. chief electoral officer Anton Boegman pushed back against "false narratives" and "disinformation" peddled by those questioning the integrity of B.C.'s voting system.
While Boegman admitted human error was present at points — including in the Prince George-Mackenzie riding, where a ballot box containing 861 votes was not counted — he said he took full accountability for the work of officials and any mistakes that were made.
"I'll leave the political discussion to the politicians," he said at the time. "I stand by my assertion that the election was free, fair and secure."
In a statement, the B.C. NDP's provincial director Tania Jarzebiak called Randhawa's lawsuit a "futile attempt" to overturn Begg's election.
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