The resumption of counting in last week’s election in British Columbia saw the NDP widen its lead in two crucial races and close to within 14 votes of the BC Conservatives in another.

No lead has changed in nine races too close to call, and the update provided by Elections BC raises the prospect of an NDP government.

The Conservatives were hoping to overturn the NDP’s lead in Juan de Fuca-Malahat and Downtown Surrey, the two closest races after the initial count ended last Sunday, but instead the ongoing count of postal votes allowed the NDP to take the advantage.

The NDP now leads in Juan de Fuca-Malahat by 106 votes to 23, while the party’s candidate leads in downtown Surrey by 162 votes to 93.

In Surrey-Guildford, where the BC Conservatives held a 103-vote lead, the NDP closed to 14 votes with more than 200 votes left to count.

At the end of the initial count after the October 19 election, neither David Eby’s NDP nor John Rustad’s Conservatives in British Columbia obtained the 47 ridings needed to form a majority in the 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly.

The NDP is elected or in the lead with 46 seats and the Conservatives with 45 seats, while the Greens could hold the balance of power after winning two seats.

If the NDP maintains its current lead in the undecided election, it will be able to form a minority government if it gains support from the Greens, but if it also wins a Conservative-led race like Surrey-Guildford, it will have the the narrowest of majorities.

To form a majority, the Conservatives must flip two ridings where the NDP is in the lead, and while a minority Conservative government remains a possibility, the ideological gap between the party and the Greens is significant.

The NDP lead widened in Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, but the margins changed little in other close races.

More than 43,000 postal ballots were expected to be counted in the province’s 93 ridings, in a process expected to conclude on Sunday.

The electoral authority will also conduct a full recount starting Sunday in the Juan de Fuca-Malahat and Surrey City Center constituencies as their margins after the initial count were less than 100.

There will also be a partial hand recount in Kelowna Center due to a transcription error involving a tabulator used in the riding.

The final tally will then be completed on Monday with the counting of more than 22,000 mail-in ballots, with results updated hourly on the Election BC website that day.

But even after that, a judicial recount could be requested by a candidate if the margin in their district is less than 1/500th of all votes counted.

British Columbia’s Conservative candidate in Juan de Fuca-Malahat, meanwhile, faces criticism within her own party over comments about Indigenous people.

On Friday, the Vancouver Sun published a recording in which a person identified as Marina Sapozhnikov refers to First Nations people as “savages.” The newspaper says the comments were made during an election night conversation with a journalism student.

Peter Milobar, the Conservative candidate in Kelowna Centre, posted a message on social media platform

Sapozhnikov did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Rustad issued his own statement on Saturday, saying he was “dismayed and deeply saddened” by the comments.

“His comments are not only inaccurate but deeply damaging, painting a distorted picture of the communities I have worked with for many years,” the statement read.

Rustad said the remarks did not reflect his party’s values.

“We take this matter seriously,” he said. “As leader, I am fully committed to ensuring our party leads with respect and understanding for all British Columbians.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 26, 2024.

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press