A losing B.C. Conservative candidate has officially filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court claiming alleged election "irregularities" in the October provincial election.
Honveer Singh Randhawa, who lost Surrey-Guildford by 22 votes to New Democrat Garry Begg following a judicial recount, filed a petition at the New Westminster Supreme Court Monday (Jan. 13) that asks the Supreme Court of British Columbia to declare Begg's election invalid under Section 150 of the Election Act.
The petition details Randhawa's efforts to obtain information from Elections BC about who voted in Surrey-Guildford and the delays he encountered.
It also lays out details about 18 alleged non-resident voters and two cases where it's alleged that an individual voted twice under slightly different names, as well as going into detail about Randhawa's previous allegations that voting at Argyll Lodge, a mental health facility in Surrey, may have been carried out improperly.
The petition is between Honveer Singh Randhawa and respondents Anton Boegman, the chief electoral officer; Rana Malhi, the district electoral officer; Surrey-Guildford MLA Garry Begg; and candidates Kabir Qurban and Manjeet Singh Sahota. Begg, Qurban and Sahota, along with Randhawa ran in the October 2024 provincial election in the Surrey-Guildford riding.
A response to the petition must be filed within 21 days if the respondents were served the petition in Canada.
Randhawa is also seeking to recover any costs related to the petition "within meaning of the Supreme Court Civil Rules, if the Court declares than an election is invalid under s.150."
According to the petition, on Oct. 29, Randhawa emailed the district electoral officer for a copy of the voter participation list that included certification containing main-in votes, assisted telephone votes and special absentee ballots. Randhawa was told to 鈥渇orward his request to Election BC,鈥� which he did.
Elections BC denied his urgent request for the list, citing the preparations for upcoming judicial recount as the reason, but said legal counsel would follow up with Randhawa.
Menka Sull, counsel for Elections BC, told Randhawa via email to not contact Elections BC, including the district electoral officer, about any request for material related to the recount. Randhawa鈥檚 lawyer, Sharon White, asked for a copy of the list during the judicial recount application and was told they would have to wait until the judicial recount was over.
Randhawa emailed Elections BC on Nov. 10 after the judicial recount was over. He received a reply from Sull that stated while his request is allowed, it is not mandatory for Elections BC to provided the requested information. Furthermore, he was asked to explain why he need the list and why on a 鈥渦rgent basis.鈥�
Randhawa replied to Sull that day and explained why this information was needed right away. He provided 鈥渁 detailed explanation outlining the Elections Act sections as per which he had time limitations to bring Court Petitions.鈥�
Since Begg won by only 22 votes, Randhawa said he wanted to 鈥渧erify the voter鈥檚 participation in the election of Surrey Guildford riding to eliminate any concerns of wrongdoing.鈥�
He followed up with Sull again on Nov. 19, then on Nov. 22 he received the final voter participation list with voter ID numbers only. This list did not contain all the information that he had requested, such as how the vote was cast. He claims that receiving the list with only voting IDs and without the requested categories 鈥渉ampered and delayed his efforts in finding the contraventions.鈥�
Randhawa stated he found a 鈥渟ignificant number or contraventions as to materially affect the outcome of the election in the Surrey Guildford Electoral District.鈥� He stated he likely would have found more contraventions of voters if he had been provided the information in a timely manner and without the time restraints put on by the court.
Randhawa also filed a formal complaint with Elections BC to investigate the votes cast at Argyll Lodge, a mental health facility in Surrey, which he said may have been carried out improperly under Section 150 of the Election Act. Elections BC has also announced a review of the allegations following a complaint from Randhawa.
Randhawa's petition to the court centres on two named residents of Argyll Lodge, whose statements say they were not aware of the Oct. 19 provincial election and did not know what a mail-in ballot was or how to get one.
It says both residents had limited familiarity with English and that both were told by a staff member "to mark a cross in a box" on their mail-in ballots.
Both said they felt rushed and "under duress" when casting their vote and worried that they would be "mistreated or abused by staff members at the lodge" if they did not follow their instructions, according to the petition.
The petition goes on to question the cognitive abilities of many of the residents of the lodge, suggesting "the reasonable likelihood of undue influence or outright ballot manipulation" in the voting process.
The claims in the petition have not been tested or proven in court.
