Kelowna Centre judicial recount: what it is, how it works, and what comes next
The BC Supreme Court oversaw a judicial recount in Kelowna Centre on November 8. With a 43-vote margin after the final count, the law required a recount. Elections BC must report results once the Court is done, and Return Day is November 18.
Long read. The subject the most local outlets covered that day, with the public record behind it. Every outlet and record is linked under the story. Read the original report on results.elections.bc.ca.
Kristina Loewen of the Conservative Party of BC leads Loyal Wooldridge of the BC NDP by 43 votes in Kelowna Centre after the final count. That margin triggered a law that required a judicial recount, which the BC Supreme Court oversaw on November 8. Elections BC will announce the results once the Court is done.
The figures come from Elections BC's results page, read at 16:21 PCT on November 8, 2026: Loewen has 11,689 votes (48.01 percent), Wooldridge has 11,646 (47.84 percent), and Bill Desrosiers of OneBC has 937 (3.85 percent). Elections BC marks the final count for Kelowna Centre as complete.
Why the law required a recount
Section 139(3) of the Election Act says the district electoral officer must apply to the BC Supreme Court for a judicial recount when the winning margin is less than 1/500 of total ballots cast. In Kelowna Centre, 24,272 ballots were counted in the final count. One five-hundredth of 24,272 is 48.5. The margin of 43 votes is below that threshold, so the application was required.
The BC Supreme Court confirmed the judicial recounts in Kelowna Centre and Surrey-Guildford for November 7 and 8, according to Elections BC's announcement.
What a judicial recount is
A judicial recount is not the same as the final count Elections BC runs after voting day. The final count adds mail-in, assisted telephone and absentee ballots that were not counted on election night. A judicial recount is a separate process run entirely by the BC Supreme Court after the final count is complete.
Elections BC's announcement states: "Judicial recounts are conducted by the Court and led by a Supreme Court Justice. The Court determines when judicial recounts take place and how they are conducted. Elections BC will report the results of the judicial recounts once they are complete."
Under section 142 of the Election Act, the court reviews the ballots and envelopes, confirms or changes the counts, and declares the results at the end of the recount. The court may also decide, without a full recount, that the numbers would not change and declare the original results to stand.
A judicial recount can change the total votes for any candidate if the court finds that some ballots were counted incorrectly or not counted at all. The official results come from the chief electoral officer's declaration after the recount, not from the numbers that appear on the Elections BC results page during the count.
How the margin moved
Loewen held a 132-vote lead over Wooldridge on election night, according to the article published on this site on November 6. The final count ran from October 24 to November 6, adding late ballots across BC. In Kelowna Centre, those ballots narrowed the margin to 43 votes.
Loewen has held the Kelowna Centre seat since she won a by-election in 2023. The district covers the central part of Kelowna in the Okanagan.
Surrey-Guildford also recounted
The same law applied in Surrey-Guildford, where the BC Supreme Court oversaw a judicial recount on November 7. As of the Elections BC results page read at 16:21 PCT on November 8, Garry Thind of the Conservative Party of BC leads Surrey-Guildford with 8,469 votes (50.34 percent). Garry Begg of the BC NDP has 6,905 votes (41.04 percent), Jodi Murphy of the BC Green Party has 1,079 (6.41 percent), and James Yaroshuk has 327 (1.94 percent). Elections BC marks the final count in Surrey-Guildford as complete.
Elections BC will also report the results of the Surrey-Guildford judicial recount once the Court's process is done.
The full count
Across all 93 districts, the Conservative Party of BC leads in 64, the BC NDP in 27, and the BC Green Party in 2, according to Elections BC's party results page as of November 8 at 16:21 PCT. The Conservatives have 928,019 votes (47.71 percent), the BC NDP 730,939 votes (37.58 percent), and the BC Greens 216,808 votes (11.15 percent). These figures are from the final count and come from Elections BC's own page.
What comes next
Elections BC has said it will report the judicial recount results once the Court is done. The 2026 election page on Elections BC's site lists Return Day as November 18, 2026. Return Day is when the chief electoral officer declares official results for all 93 districts.
Until then, Elections BC's results page marks Loewen and Thind as leading, not as elected. The official election of any candidate in BC depends on the chief electoral officer's declaration on Return Day.
Residents of Kelowna Centre can follow the results at the Elections BC results page and at the Kelowna Centre district page on this site. Elections BC updates its results page every few minutes when a count is active.
The BC election follows all 93 districts. Find the results at /bc/provincial-2026/news on this site as they are reported.
Questions this story answers
What is a judicial recount, and how is it different from the final count?
The final count is Elections BC's own process, run after voting day, that adds mail-in, assisted telephone and absentee ballots not counted on election night. A judicial recount is a separate process run by the BC Supreme Court after the final count is done. Elections BC's announcement says: 'Judicial recounts are conducted by the Court and led by a Supreme Court Justice. The Court determines when judicial recounts take place and how they are conducted.'
What triggered the judicial recounts in Kelowna Centre and Surrey-Guildford?
Section 139(3) of the Election Act requires the district electoral officer to apply for a judicial recount when the winning margin is less than 1/500 of total ballots cast in the district. In Kelowna Centre, the final count ended with a 43-vote margin on 24,272 total ballots cast. One five-hundredth of 24,272 is 48.5, so the margin of 43 fell below that threshold. The same test applied in Surrey-Guildford.
What are the vote counts in Kelowna Centre as of the final count?
According to Elections BC's results page, read at 16:21 PCT on November 8, 2026: Kristina Loewen of the Conservative Party of BC has 11,689 votes (48.01 percent), Loyal Wooldridge of the BC NDP has 11,646 votes (47.84 percent), and Bill Desrosiers of OneBC has 937 votes (3.85 percent). The margin between first and second is 43 votes.
How did the margin change between election night and the final count?
On election night, Loewen's lead over Wooldridge was 132 votes, according to the article published on this site on November 6. The final count added mail-in and absentee ballots and brought the margin down to 43 votes as of November 8.
What can a BC Supreme Court justice do in a judicial recount?
Under section 142 of the Election Act, the court considers the ballots and envelopes, confirms or changes the ballot accounts, and declares the results at the end of the recount. The court may also decide that a recount would not change the results and declare the election decided without a full recount.
When will Elections BC publish the results of the judicial recounts?
Elections BC has said it will report the results of the judicial recounts once the Court's process is complete. The 2026 election page on the Elections BC site lists Return Day as November 18, 2026, which is when the chief electoral officer declares official results for all 93 districts.
What is the status of Surrey-Guildford?
The BC Supreme Court oversaw a judicial recount in Surrey-Guildford on November 7. As of the Elections BC results page read at 16:21 PCT on November 8, Garry Thind of the Conservative Party of BC leads that district with 8,469 votes (50.34 percent) over Garry Begg of the BC NDP with 6,905 votes (41.04 percent). Elections BC marks the final count in Surrey-Guildford as complete. Elections BC will also report the results of that judicial recount once the Court is done.
Are Kristina Loewen and Garry Thind officially elected?
No. Elections BC's results page marks both as 'Leading', not elected. The official election of a candidate happens when the chief electoral officer declares official results, which is set for Return Day on November 18, 2026, according to Elections BC's 2026 election page.
Where can I follow updates on the Kelowna Centre results?
Elections BC publishes the count at results.elections.bc.ca, and will announce the judicial recount results at elections.bc.ca once the Court is done. The Kelowna Centre district page on this site is at /bc/provincial-2026/races/mla/kelowna-centre.
Sources
The pages this story draws on. Open one to check a claim yourself.
- Elections BC candidate results, as of November 8, 2026 16:21 PCTresults.elections.bc.ca
- Elections BC: Judicial recounts in Kelowna Centre and Surrey-Guildfordelections.bc.ca
- Elections BC: 2026 provincial election, Return Day November 18elections.bc.ca
- Election Act, Part 7, Division 3, section 139: judicial recountsbclaws.gov.bc.ca
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