Not since 1952 have British Columbians gone to the polls and then entered an extended fugue state of not knowing who won

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It typically takes up to two weeks to completely finalize the results of a B.C. provincial election. But not since 1952 has a result been so close that the winner hung in the balance. It wasn’t until Monday, 10 days after voting took place, that the B.C. NDP was declared victor and invited to form government by Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin.

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And this count carried the added complexity of a mass of uncounted mail-in ballots that was first estimated at 49,000, but whose final tally would end up coming to 66,074.

In the province’s 2001 election, there were some seats whose results remained undecided for more than two months after voting day. At the last election, held in 2020, the final Elections BC count wasn’t published until Nov. 8, more than two weeks after that year’s Oct. 24 vote.

But in both of those races, the winner won by a wide enough margin that victory could be declared even with a few seats still hanging in the balance.

The 2001 result, in particular, saw the B.C. Liberals capture 77 of 79 seats; the final tally only served to figure out if the B.C. NDP would hold enough seats to retain official party status (they didn’t).

That’s not the case this time. On the morning after the vote, Elections BC announced that it had tallied 99.72 per cent of the more than two million ballots cast.

Initial count is complete. Final count is scheduled for October 26 to 28: https://t.co/h4sHeaRHQI

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