Elections BC has suspended a review, pending court proceedings, of a complaint from a Conservative Party of B.C. candidate that claimed alleged potential violations of the Election Act in the Surrey-Guildford electoral district during the 2024 provincial election.
In a news release Tuesday (Jan. 28), Elections BC noted that Honveer Singh Randhawa's complaint is "substantively the same as the allegations made in the court petition."
Randhawa filed a complaint with Elections BC on Jan. 3, and on Jan. 9, Elections BC confirmed that the complaint was under review.
Randhawa, who lost Surrey-Guildford by 22 votes to New Democrat Garry Begg following a judicial recount, filed a petition at the New Westminster Supreme Court Jan. 13, asking the Supreme Court of British Columbia to declare Begg's election invalid under Section 150 of the Election Act.
The petition details Randhawa's efforts to obtain information from Elections BC about who voted in Surrey-Guildford and the delays he encountered.
It also lays out details about alleged non-resident voters and two cases where it's alleged that an individual voted twice under slightly different names, as well as going into detail about Randhawa's previous allegations that voting at Argyll Lodge, a mental health facility in Surrey, may have been carried out improperly.
The petition is between Honveer Singh Randhawa and respondents Anton Boegman, the chief electoral officer; Rana Malhi, the district electoral officer; Surrey-Guildford MLA Garry Begg; and candidates Kabir Qurban and Manjeet Singh Sahota. Begg, Qurban and Sahota, along with Randhawa ran in the October 2024 provincial election in the Surrey-Guildford riding.
As a result, Elections BC has suspended its review pending the outcome of the court proceedings.
"Upon judicial determination of the petition, Elections BC will consider whether to resume its review of Mr. Randhawa鈥檚 complaint, and whether or not further investigation is warranted," notes the release.
