The NDP appears to have won enough seats to form government in British Columbia, however it is unclear whether it will be a majority or minority.
The Canadian Press is projecting that Premier David Eby’s NDP has won at least 46 seats, with two still too close to call in the ongoing count of absentee ballots.
The threshold for a majority is 47 seats, and the NDP is narrowly leading the B.C. Conservatives in one of the undecided races.
The B.C. Conservatives have won or are leading in 44 seats, while the Green Party has won two seats, in an election that came down to a count of about 22,000 absentee ballots on Monday, nine days after the Oct. 19 vote.
The NDP overtook the Conservatives' 12-vote lead in the closest race of Surrey-Guildford as the count unfolded, and a mid-afternoon update from Elections BC had the NDP in front by 17 votes.
If the NDP lead holds, it will have enough seats for the barest majority, but a judicial recount in Surrey-Guildford is possible, depending on the size of the margin.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2024.
