BC Conservatives Call for RCMP Investigation Into ‘Voting Irregularities’ in Surrey-Guildford Riding

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad speaks during a news conference in Richmond, B.C., on July 30, 2024. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

The BC Conservatives are asking for an RCMP investigation into “voting irregularities” centred around an addictions and recovery facility in the Surrey-Guildford riding during the last provincial election, days after Elections BC said it would conduct a probe into allegations of voting irregularities in the riding.

The BC Conservatives said they had uncovered some “serious inconsistencies about the vote in this riding,” and said the RCMP now needed to investigate what happened at the Argyll Lodge, a licensed substance abuse and recovery facility in Surrey. The party had previously called for an Elections BC investigation into irregularities in the riding of Surrey-Guildford, which it agreed to.

The BC Conservatives said in a release that 21 mail-in votes were cast from Argyll Lodge, which has a capacity of 25 beds and is located 80 metres from the nearest polling station. They also alleged that one resident said they were told how to complete their mail-in ballot package by a third party, and some residents denied requesting a mail-in ballot or even knowing that a provincial election was happening.

Additionally, the BC Conservatives alleged that the manager of Argyll Lodge is the same as an individual who made a $1,400 donation to the BC NDP in 2023.

BC Conservative Leader John Rustad said during a press conference on Jan. 9, that he had evidence a third party had modified mail-in votes at Argyll Lodge. Rustad also alleged that in the riding of Surrey-Guildford, there were incidents of non-citizens voting and people voting whose place of residence was listed as somewhere different than where they currently live.

Argyll Lodge did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment. Manager of the facility, Baljit Kandola, told Global News that there was “no truth” to the allegations.

The BC Conservatives noted that the NDP won the riding of Surrey-Guildford by just 22 votes, giving them a one-seat majority. Rustad called for Elections BC to conduct a probe into allegations of voting irregularities in the riding of Surrey-Guildford, and for there to be an independent review of the province’s election process and the way Elections BC had conducted the election.

He also recommended that the province suspend the penalties of the Elections Act for 90 days, which would allow more non-citizens to be transparent about the scale of illegal voting in the election.

Elections BC said they would be reviewing the complaint by Honveer Singh Randhawa, the Conservative candidate in the Surrey-Guildford riding. Elections BC previously told The Epoch Times that while they could not substantiate the allegations, they took all potential violations of the Elections Act seriously.

British Columbia’s Oct. 19, 2024, provincial election saw the New Democrats win a slim majority of 47 seats, compared to the Conservatives’ 44 seats and the Green Party’s two seats. In the riding of Surrey-Guildford, NDP candidate beat Randhawa by just 22 votes, with the victory being confirmed on Nov. 8 through a judicial recount overseen by Justice Kevin Loo of the B.C. Supreme Court.

During the Jan. 9 press conference, Randhawa alleged the BC Conservatives found a total of 45 voting irregularities in the riding, which was larger than the 22-vote margin of victory for the NDP.

“We are going to be bringing a petition in court shortly, as well, to make the election for Surrey-Guildford invalid, because the point at hand is that justice must prevail and democracy must be protected,” he said.