Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comments from British Columbia’s Chief Electoral Officer Anton Boegman.
Conservative Party of British Columbia Leader John Rustad announced his party has discovered alleged voting irregularities in one of the 2024 provincial election’s closest ridings – Surrey-Guildford. The BC NDP won the riding by a margin of just 22 votes after a judicial recount.
The BC Conservative leader spoke at a press conference in front of the provincial legislature in Victoria on Thursday morning, announcing that his party has reason to be suspect of the final results.
“There’s been many people who have brought forward a tremendous amount of information to us about the election,” said Rustad.
The B.C. Conservatives have said they have filed a complaint with Elections B.C. regarding their findings.
Elections BC provided True North with a statement by Chief Electoral Officer Anton Boegman confirming they have received a complaint from the party.
“Elections BC takes any potential violation of the Election Act seriously. As with any complaint we receive, we are reviewing these allegations. They have not been substantiated or proven in court. We are unable to provide further information on these allegations while our review is ongoing,” said Boegman.
“We are aware that Honveer Singh Randhawa intends to file an invalid election application for Surrey-Guildford in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. If such an application is filed, Elections BC will be a party to the application.”
Additionally, regarding the other concerns, Boegman said that if “legislators decide that an independent review is warranted, my office will fully participate in that process.”
“I am confident that the 2024 Provincial General Election was administered in accordance with the Election Act. The integrity measures in British Columbia’s voting process are well established and secure, and help ensure that only eligible voters vote, and that they only vote once. All voters must affirm they meet the eligibility requirements to vote before receiving a ballot,” wrote Boegman.
Rustad claimed he did not comment on the allegations during the election because he believes British Columbians need to have confidence in the electoral system and didn’t want to add any rumours but wanted to make sure that his claims were based in facts.
The BC Conservative leader alleged there was evidence of irregularities related to a senior home in the riding, instances of people voting twice and votes submitted by non-Canadian citizens.
“We have cases where an individual went to vote and was told somebody had already voted using their name,” explained Rustad.
Specifically, Rustad pointed to address discrepancies and 21 irregular votes being registered to a senior home.
“In Surrey-Guildford we found a case of a double vote, we have found a case of there being at least 2,000 being cast of people whose place of residence that was on Elections BC is not where they currently live,” said Rustad.
“One of the more serious issues we have found is associated with a care facility of seniors where 21 ballots were cast and individuals in that facility have come forward with affidavits of what went on.”
BC NDP candidate Gary Begg defeated BC Conservative Honveer Singh Randhawa by one of the narrowest victories in last year’s hotly contested election.
According to read-out provided to the media by the BC Conservatives, the facility in question is Argyll Lodge
Rustad made several recommendations including a call for an independent review into the election process. Additionally, Rustad called for changes to the Elections Act, which was authored by BC NDP Premier David Eby in 2019.
“We are making a recommendation that all photo ID issued should have a ‘C’ on it to ensure that the individuals are Canadian citizens,” said Rustad.
“The last recommendation is we actually think there are many people who have voted who may not be Canadian citizens, however, nobody wants to come forward because they are worried of what may happen. I think we must suspend the penalties for a 90-day period to allow people to come forward and explain what happened.”
