B.C. Conservatives call for review of 2024 election, claiming 'irregularities' in voting

The B.C. Conservative Party is calling for an independent review of the 2024 election after it says it found a number of "irregularities" in voting last fall. 

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad says a complaint has been filed with Elections B.C., specifically with regard to the riding of Surrey-Guildford, where Conservative candidate Honveer Singh Randhawa lost by just 22 votes. 

Randhawa said Thursday that the party reviewed the voting process and the voters themselves, specifically in that riding. 

The party alleges someone voted twice in the riding, that it uncovered votes from people whose place of residence, according to Elections B.C. documents, did not match where they currently live and expressed concern about a third party allegedly involved with mail-in ballots.

Randhawa claims the B.C. Conservative Party found 45 irregularities, specifically focused on mail-in ballots cast from Argyll Lodge, which Fraser Health describes as a community residential care facility. The party alleges one resident was told how to fill out their mail-in package by a third party, and that others received mail-in ballot packages they did not ask for.

The lodge's owner has strongly denied the allegations.

Randhawa, a lawyer specializing in family law, real estate and wills, said he will, as an individual, file a petition to the Supreme Court of British Columbia under the Elections Act, claiming that B.C. NDP Garry Begg's win in the riding is invalid.

Begg won by a slim margin of 22 votes, giving his party a one-seat majority of 47 seats in the 93-seat legislature. He received 8,947 votes compared to the Conservative candidate's 8,925, a result confirmed by a judicial recount overseen by Justice Kevin Loo of the B.C. Supreme Court.

Elections B.C. received much scrutiny from the Conservatives after an uncounted box of votes was discovered in the Prince George-Mackenzie riding, along with 14 unreported votes in Surrey-Guildford.

It also received flak for the drawn-out nature of the recount process, with B.C. voters having to wait nearly three weeks after the Oct. 19 election to find out who their government was.

Anton Boegman, British Columbia's chief electoral officer, says Elections B.C. is reviewing Randhawa's complaint to determine if a full investigation is needed.

"I'm very confident that the election was held in accordance with the Election Act," Boegman said. "There [are] many processes in place to ensure accessibility to voting and to protect election integrity. But if our legislators decide that an independent review of the election or of Elections B.C. is warranted, then we, of course, will fully support that process."

Speaking from her constituency office on Thursday afternoon, Attorney General Niki Sharma said it's "interesting" that the petition is coming from Randhawa as an individual and not the Conservative Party.

Argyll Lodge owner and manager Baljit Kandola said she's "shocked" by the allegations from Randhawa and the Conservative Party of B.C.