Elections B.C. suspends probe into Conservative claims of vote violations pending court case
Chief electoral officer was named in court case filed by Conservative candidate
Elections B.C. says it has suspended its review of a complaint from a Conservative candidate over potential violations in the October election as the B.C. Supreme Court considers a similar claim.
Honveer Singh Randhawa and the B.C. Conservative Party have called for a review of the 2024 election results, in particular in the riding of Surrey-Guildford, where the NDP candidate beat Randhawa by a narrow margin of just 22 votes.
Randhawa filed the complaint with Elections B.C., then days later he asked the B.C. Supreme Court to declare the election of New Democrat Garry Begg invalid.
Elections B.C. said in a statement issued Tuesday that the court filing also named Chief Electoral Officer Anton Boegman in the case.
It said that allegations in both the complaint and the court petition are similar and in order to preserve the integrity of the court proceedings, Elections B.C. will suspend its review until the court makes its decision.
Once a judge decides, Elections B.C. said it will consider whether to resume its review of the complaint if it believes further investigation is warranted.
With files from CBC News