British Columbia’s election agency says it has discovered that a ballot box containing 861 votes wasn’t counted in the recent provincial election, as well as other mistakes, including 14 votes going unreported in a crucial riding narrowly won by the NDP.
The errors prompted B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad to call for an independent review on Monday.
Elections B.C. said in a statement that the omission of the ballot box did not affect the result in Prince George-Mackenzie, the electoral district where the box was found.
It said the unreported votes in Surrey-Guildford were discovered last week during preparations for a judicial recount in the riding, where Garry Begg’s 27-vote victory propelled the New Democrats to a one-seat majority government.
Rustad called the errors “an unprecedented failure by the very institution responsible for ensuring the fairness and accuracy of our elections.”
“While I am not disputing the final outcome pending …