Elections BC said Friday evening that several hundred ballots remained uncounted in the tightest undecided races following the province’s fierce voting last weekend.

The NDP leads the BC Conservatives by less than 100 votes in the two tightest races, so the numbers released by Elections BC leave room for a lead change, increasing the chances of securing a Conservative majority .

Election officials said there would be about 681 mail-in and mail-in ballots to be counted in Juan de Fuca-Malahat, where the NDP candidate currently leads the BC Conservatives by just 23 votes.

In downtown Surrey, where the NDP’s lead is 93 votes, there are about 476 uncounted votes.

Elections BC added that the estimated number of ballots could still be subject to change.

“Some precincts are still reviewing certification envelopes containing mail-in ballots and mail-in ballots for final counting,” the election authority said. “During the final count, certification envelopes that contain no ballots or more than one marked ballot will be set aside and will not be considered.”

Last Saturday’s election in British Columbia failed to produce a 47-riding majority for Premier David Eby’s NDP or John Rustad’s Conservatives after the initial count.

More than 66,000 postal and absentee ballots in the province’s 93 precincts will be counted over the weekend and Monday, while a full recount will take place in Juan de Fuca-Malahat and downtown Surrey due to their proximity.

The Conservatives are currently elected or leading in 45 ridings, so if they reverse both recount races and maintain their lead elsewhere, they will get the narrowest majority.

Eby’s NDP is elected or leads in 46 ridings, so if he hangs on to one or both of Juan de Fuca-Malahat and downtown Surrey while holding on to his other positions, he will be able to form a minority government if it obtains the support of the two elected Greens.

Depending on what happens in this weekend’s final counting process, BC Greens leader Sonia Furstenau will potentially hold central power in the province’s next government, even though she lost her own candidacy for re-election.

Furstenau remains party leader and said “no party deserves all the power” after last weekend’s close results.

She said any discussion about supporting the Greens – in the event that neither the NDP nor the Conservatives reach 47 seats in the final count – will have to start with the Green Party platform which includes support for the tax on the carbon and no future approval of liquefied natural gas projects. .

The Greens can also theoretically form a minority government with the Conservatives, but there are wide ideological divisions between the two parties.

Furstenau said she spoke briefly with Eby while a call from Rustad went unanswered because she “didn’t recognize the phone number.”

There are seven other ridings too close for the final weekend count, and the margins in all are exceeded by the number of uncounted votes that were listed for each riding by Elections BC as of Friday evening.

Among other tight races, there are about 634 votes left to count in Surrey Guildford, where the Conservatives hold a 103-vote lead. But as the size of margins increases elsewhere, ranging from 148 to 354 votes, leads become harder to overturn.

Elections BC said the result of the downtown Surrey recount will be announced on Sunday when it is completed, and the result of the Juan de Fuca-Malahat recount is expected on Monday. Postal and postal vote tallies in all ridings will be updated on the Elections BC website as the count continues.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 25, 2024.

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press