By Canadian Press

B.C.’s chief electoral officer pushes against ‘false narratives’ in 2024 vote

May 27, 2025 | 2:40 PM

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s chief electoral officer has issued a report he says pushes back against “false narratives” about the 2024 provincial election, as the Opposition BC Conservatives continue to call for an independent review.

Anton Boegman says the falsehoods include claims about many non-citizens voting, widespread multiple voting and extensive fraudulent use of mail-in voting.

Boegman says B.C. has “well-established and proven processes” to keep elections secure, adding that all voters must affirm their eligibility, including citizenship before registering and voting.

Officials also prevent multiple voting by checking voters off lists, and people voting by mail must meet identity and integrity standards, he added.

Boegman acknowledged October’s election faced challenges and he accepted responsibility for human-caused errors including uncounted and unreported ballots that prompted a partial recount in the riding of Prince George-Mackenzie.

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Boegman says the errors did not affect the final results, with Premier David Eby’s NDP winning a single-seat majority, but Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad says a “number of errors” put the results in question.

The report is the first volume in a series of reports into the Oct. 19 vote.

It says “administrative challenges” included the late withdrawal of the BC United Party, extreme weather on voting day and human error.

In Prince George-Mackenzie, election officials failed to count a ballot box containing 861 advance votes on election night.

The report says the mistake was made after a single ballot was inserted into a box without being tabulated. The mistake was noted and election officials were instructed to reset the tabulator and re-insert all the ballots.

However the report says the instructions were followed incorrectly, and while the retabulated box was counted, a second box containing other advance votes was not.

“Our review determined that while there were contributing factors, the mistakes were a result of election official errors,” the report says of the uncounted box and other errors.

It says contributing factors “included the complexity of our electoral model and the reliance on manual processes for key parts of results reporting, the shortened time between initial count and final count, and the delay in completing a quality assurance report at (Elections BC) HQ.”

“These factors were exacerbated by the long working hours and extreme weather event on final voting day,” it says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2025.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press