Ken Sim not conceding Vancouver mayoral election, amid talk of recount

With fewer than 1,000 votes separating the top two candidates in Vancouver’s mayoral election, runner-up Ken Sim of the Non-Partisan Association (NPA) says he owes it to supporters to see if a recount is possible.

“We’re not conceding at this point in time, no,” he said after independent candidate Kennedy Stewart finished the evening with the most votes.

Sim said he’ll consult with his team, but the City of Vancouver says no recount is required unless there’s a tie.

Globalnews.ca coverage of the Vancouver municipal election

2:30 The collapse of Vision Vancouver

• The collapse of Vision Vancouver
• Kennedy Stewart gives victory speech after winning Vancouver mayoral race
• Decision BC: Biggest results of B.C. municipal election
• Christine Boyle on new voices at Vancouver city hall

Previous Video

Next Video

“We’re going to talk to our advisers and see what we can do because we really do owe it to our supporters that we got the selection right,” Sim said.

The Local Elections Act outlines rules for requesting a judicial recount through the B.C. Supreme Court.

It says a candidate or electoral officer can apply for a recount under several circumstances, including if the votes were not correctly accepted, ballots were not correctly rejected and if the ballot count did not accurately record the number of votes cast.

The request must be made within six days of the declaration of official election results, which is scheduled to take place in Vancouver on Wednesday.

NPA spokesperson Patrick O’Connor said Sunday that they are waiting for the Chief Election Officer to carry out a final determination of the official election results early in the week.

“The results of this election are very close, but it remains to be seen what potential next steps — if any — there may be,” he said.

It wasn’t the only close race in British Columbia’s local elections, which saw razor-thin wins of only one vote in Peachland and two votes on Bowen Island, according to unofficial results.

— With files from The Canadian Press