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Oppal falls behind in see-saw Delta South recount

With absentee ballots remaining, attorney general lags by 14 votes

Last Updated: Monday, May 25, 2009 | 6:25 PM PT

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Wally Oppal must await recount results to see whether he can hold on to his seat.Wally Oppal must await recount results to see whether he can hold on to his seat. (CBC)

B.C. Liberal Wally Oppal fell behind in Monday's initial recount of ballots cast in Delta South in the May 12 provincial election.

Absentee votes will still need to be counted Tuesday before the final result will be announced Wednesday.

Partial results posted at 6 p.m. PT Monday by Elections BC show independent candidate Vicki Huntington had a lead of 14 votes over Oppal.

Huntington, a five-term Delta city councillor, now has 9,760 votes, while Oppal has 9,746 votes after Monday's initial recount.

Oppal, B.C.'s attorney general, increased his three-vote lead to seven votes ahead of Huntington shortly after the recount began Monday.

But he fell behind Huntington after the recount was finished, with 918 absentee ballots still to be counted.

Huntington said she does not expect Monday's recount to change the outcome, but is hopeful that when hundreds of absentee ballots are opened and counted for the first time that she may win the seat.

Barnett pulls ahead in Cariboo-Chilcotin recount

Another initial recount was conducted Monday in the Cariboo-Chilcotin riding.

Liberal candidate Donna Barnett led NDP candidate Charlie Wyse 5,834 votes to 5,775 votes, reversing a 23-vote lead Wyse held on election night, according to partial results posted at 6 p.m. PT Monday by Elections BC.

Again, 977 absentee ballots in that riding will need to be counted before a final result can be announced.

"This is quite unprecedented," Kenn Faris, event communications manager of Elections BC, said of the results of the two initial recounts.

"The fact that they're so close and then they overturned the way they did is quite unusual as well. But anything can happen in close races as you know."

According the official count on election night, the B.C. Liberals won the election, taking 49 seats, while the NDP took 36.

The only previous case of an election result being overturned was in 2001 in Victoria-Hillside where New Democrat Steve Orcherton led by 58 votes after the initial count. But after a recount and a count of absentee ballots, Liberal Sheila Orr was declared the winner by 82 votes.

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Overall Results

Overall Election Results
Party Elected Leading Total
Updated: May. 13, 2009, 1:16 AM PDT
LIB 49 0 49
NDP 36 0 36
GRN 0 0 0
CON 0 0 0
OTH 0 0 0

Choose a format to view results for all ridings and parties:

Interactive results map Riding results

All results are unofficial until final ballot counts are verified by Elections B.C.

STV referendum overall results

Question: Which electoral system should British Columbia use to elect members to the provinical Legislative Assembly?

  • The existing system (First-Past-the-Post)
  • The single transferable vote electorial system (BC-STV) proposed by the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform

Electoral District Vote

BC-STV

First-Past-the-Post

51 RIDINGS

 
 
 

Ridings 7/85

Ridings 78/85

Updated: May. 13, 2009, 1:16 AM PDT

85/85 ridings reporting

Total Popular Vote

BC-STV

First-Past-the-Post

MAJORITY 60%

 
 
 

560,430 votes | 38.82%

883,259 votes | 61.18%

Updated: May. 13, 2009, 1:16 AM PDT

What it needs to win:

For the referendum to be binding, the approval level must be:

  1. more than 50% of the votes in at least 51 of the province's 85 electoral districts, AND
  2. at least 60% of the total popular vote, province-wide.

If the two thresholds are met, government is required to introduce legislation to implement BC-STV in sufficient time for it to be in place for the May 2013 General Election.

B.C. Votes Headlines

Huntington defeats Oppal in B.C. election recount Video
Independent candidate Vicki Huntington has defeated high profile B.C. Liberal cabinet minister Wally Oppal in the riding of Delta South in one of two provincial election recounts concluded on Tuesday.
Oppal falls behind in see-saw Delta South recount
B.C. Liberal Wally Oppal fell behind in Monday's initial recount of ballots cast in Delta South in the May 12 provincial election. Absentee votes will still need to be counted Tuesday before the final result will be announced Wednesday.
Record low voter turnout in B.C. election
Voter turnout in B.C.'s provincial election hit a record low on Tuesday, with only 50 per cent of eligible voters bothering to vote, a full eight percentage points less than the 58 per cent that voted in 2005.
Oppal awaits results of recount for Delta South seat
There will be an automatic recount in the Delta South riding after preliminary election results show star Liberal candidate Wally Oppal beat independent Vicki Huntington by a mere two votes.
Re-elected Campbell to focus on strengthening B.C.'s economy Video
Gordon Campbell says reviving the province's economy is his main task as he heads into a historic third straight term as the province's premier, but other issues — such as health care and the environment — are also on the agenda.

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