B.C. Elections will conduct a probe into allegations of voting irregularities in the Surrey-Guildford riding, following concerns raised by the B.C. Conservative Party about reports that individuals cast votes multiple times or voted without being citizens.
“We are asking B.C. Elections to do a thorough investigation into this and, also, if it does point to irregularities, then other institutions … should also be looked into,” said B.C. Conservative candidate Honveer Singh Randhawa during a Jan. 9 press conference.
NDP candidate Garry Begg beat Singh Randhawa in the riding of Surrey-Guildford by just 22 votes in the Oct. 19, 2024 provincial election. The win gave the NDP a majority of 47 seats, compared to the Conservatives’ 44 seats. Begg’s victory was confirmed on Nov. 8 through a judicial recount overseen by Justice Kevin Loo of the B.C. Supreme Court.
Singh Randhawa said the party found a total of 45 voting irregularities in the riding, which was larger than the 22-vote margin of victory for the NDP.
“We are going to be bringing a petition in court shortly, as well, to make the election for Surrey-Guildford invalid, because the point at hand is that justice must prevail and democracy must be protected,” he said.
Elections B.C. said Singh Randhawa’s complaint, which was filed on Jan. 3, is “under review.”
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In a statement to The Epoch Times, Elections B.C. said they take all potential violations of the Elections Act seriously, and would be reviewing the 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,” the agency said on Jan. 9.
B.C. Conservative Party Leader John Rustad told the press conference he refrained from discussing voting irregularity concerns in the immediate aftermath of the election because he wanted British Columbians to have “confidence” in the results and did not want to “add into rumours or into conspiracy theories.”
Rustad said his party was informed of incidents of non-citizens voting, but acknowledged this was difficult to prove because “no one’s gonna be coming forward, putting up their hand saying, ‘please have me eligible for a fine or to be put in jail.’”
He said they were also informed of a person who was unable to vote because someone had already voted in their name.
The more “disturbing” incidents were found in the riding of Surrey-Guildford, where they uncovered evidence of at least two dozen ballots cast by people “whose place of residence that was on Elections B.C. is not where they currently live,” Rustad said. Several individuals have also come forward with sworn affidavits alleging that a third-party had modified 21 mail-in votes at a seniors facility, he added.
Rustad also cited a case where a voter who had just become a Canadian citizen three days before the election was never asked whether they were a citizen when they voted.
“To me, that’s concerning, because the No. 1 thing that Elections B.C. should be doing is to make sure that the people who vote are Canadian citizens,” he said. “That is the core of our democracy.”
Rustad recommended that all photo IDs issued by the government should have a “C” on them to distinguish whether the owner is a Canadian citizen. He said this would “protect the integrity” of provincial elections. He also called for the province to suspend the penalties of the Elections Act for 90 days, which would encourage non-citizens to be transparent about the scale of voting by non-citizens in the election.
“We have heard of hundreds of these potential cases of issues,” he said. “However, like I said, no one wants to come forward because they’re worried about what may happen in terms of a fine or potential jail time.”
Rustad called for an independent review of both the province’s election process as well as the way in which Elections BC had conducted the election. He also said the Elections Act should be reviewed.
Elections B.C. said it was aware of the concerns raised by Rustad, and that if legislators decided that an independent review was needed, they would “fully participate in that process.”
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
