Liberal Jim Benninger has filed for a recount of the result in the Courtenay-Comox riding, which could play a big role in determining the winning party in this week’s provincial election.
In the initial count of ballots on Tuesday, New Democrat Ronna-Rae Leonard was nine votes ahead of Benninger, giving the NDP one of its 41 seats. The Liberals have 43 seats, and the Greens have three.
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The recount is set for May 22 to 24, and an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 absentee ballots will be counted for the first time.
The recount will decide who serves as the riding’s MLA, but will also have an impact across the province.
If the New Democrats lose the Courtenay-Comox seat, and no other seats change hands in the final count, the Liberals will have the 44 seats needed to form a majority government, stripping the balance of power from Andrew Weaver and the Green Party.
On election night, Leonard had 10,058 votes and Benninger had 10,049.
“We knew this was going to be a close riding,” Benninger said Thursday. “It was closer than we expected. But I’m pleased to still be in it.”
Leonard said she has no choice but to “sit tight and wait for it all to unfold.”
“We’re definitely in limbo, because we have to wait for every vote to count,” she said.
“But I’m celebrating the moment. Better to be nine votes ahead than nine votes behind.”
Provincewide, about 176,000 absentee ballots have yet to be counted. These votes were cast outside of registered voters’ specific electoral districts, and are not included in the count on election night.
Andrew Watson, manager of communications for Elections B.C., said the process for the initial count and final count has been in place since the mid-1990s, when the Election Act had its last major rewrite.
“It’s not unheard of for a result at the district level in a close race to change from initial to final,” he said.
In the six days after the final count, a “judicial count” can be requested by a voter, candidate or corresponding representative, or district electoral officer.
“In a close race, that’s still a possibility,” Watson said.
After the 2013 election, 3,505 absentee ballots were submitted in what was then the Comox Valley riding. Boundary changes following that election put residents from Cumberland, Royston, Hornby Island and Denman Island into the Mid Island-Pacific Rim riding for this election.
The population of the Comox Valley has grown by nearly 3,000 residents since 2011, making it one of B.C.’s five fastest-growing rural districts, according to the Statistics Canada census.
Benninger, the former base commander at Canadian Forces Base Comox, was hoping to follow the path of Liberal Don McRae, the MLA since 2009. McRae did not run for re-election.
Leonard, a three-term Courtenay councillor and longtime Comox Valley resident, was the NDP candidate in Vancouver Island North in the 2011 federal election.
For decades, the Comox Valley was staunchly NDP. In the last four provincial elections, however, Liberal candidates have won, albeit by relatively slim margins.
The only certainty today is that much is to be decided.
“Right now we’re basically tied,” Benninger said. “The first-round score was 1-1 and now we’re moving on to the next round, where the score will start 0-0.”
Leonard said: “You’ve got to live in the moment. Every election is a different ball game.”
