Elections BC remains confident that voting in the 2024 Provincial Election was free, fair, and secure

ELECTIONS BC announced on Tuesday that the petition to invalidate the election in the Surrey-Guildford electoral district in the 2024 Provincial Election has been discontinued by the petitioner, Honveer Singh Randhawa.

As Randhawa has ended his petition, the election of Garry Begg in the district of Surrey-Guildford is no longer being challenged in court.

On January 3, Elections BC received a complaint from Randhawa alleging potential violations of the Election Act in the Surrey-Guildford electoral district. On January 9, Elections BC advised Randhawa that the complaint was under review.

On January 13, Randhawa filed a petition in the BC Supreme Court, seeking a judicial declaration that the election of Begg in the Surrey-Guildford electoral district was invalid. The allegations in the January 3 complaint were substantively the same as the allegations in the court petition. In order to preserve the integrity of the court proceedings, Elections BC suspended its review of Randhawa’s complaint at that time.

As a non-partisan and independent office, Elections BC said its role in this invalid election petition was to serve as a neutral participant, providing factual information about electoral processes and legal interpretation of the Election Act. The Chief Electoral Officer did not take a position on whether the election should be declared invalid.

The court did not make any determinations about whether any of the alleged contraventions of the Election Act occurred. Elections BC remains confident that voting in the 2024 Provincial Election was free, fair, and secure. Election processes, including vote-by-mail, were administered in accordance with the Election Act and ensured that eligible voters were able to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

As the petition has now been discontinued, Elections BC will consider its next steps in relation to Randhawa’s complaint.