---
title: "Stephanie Higginson leads Kris McNichol by 13 votes in Ladysmith-Oceanside after Elections BC corrects a data entry error"
description: "Elections BC corrected a data entry error on October 25 that reversed the lead in Ladysmith-Oceanside, putting BC NDP candidate Stephanie Higginson 13 votes ahead of Conservative Kris McNichol. A recount and mail-in ballot count runs November 6 to 10."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/provincial-2026/news/ladysmith-oceanside-recount-higginson-mcnichol-2026"
last_updated: "2026-10-28T17:59:32.557Z"
---

[Stephanie Higginson](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/stephanie-higginson) of the BC NDP leads [Ladysmith-Oceanside](/bc/provincial-2026/races/mla/ladysmith-oceanside) by 13 votes over Conservative [Kris McNichol](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/kris-mcnichol) after Elections BC corrected a data entry error on October 25. As of Elections BC's preliminary count at 10:34 a.m. Pacific on October 26, Higginson holds 13,380 votes (44.37 per cent) against McNichol's 13,367 (44.33 per cent).

The Nanaimo News Bulletin reported the correction. On election night, October 24, McNichol had been shown leading by 89 votes.

## What Elections BC corrected

Elections BC announced a data entry error on October 25 that changed the vote totals and reversed the lead in Ladysmith-Oceanside, the Nanaimo News Bulletin reported. The agency did not describe the specific mistake in the reporting cited.

Charlene Smylie of the BC Green Party received 3,365 votes (11.16 per cent) in the preliminary count. Total valid votes in the district: 30,112, according to Elections BC.

## What the candidates said

Higginson told the Nanaimo News Bulletin: "It's always nice to be going into a recount on the higher side of the ledger, but we have learned in this election not to take anything for granted."

McNichol said: "This is democracy at its finest. We'll see what happens in the recount and the mail-in ballots and all those ballots." He told the paper his first priority if elected would be a catheterization laboratory at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, so that heart procedures could be done locally instead of requiring patients to travel to Vancouver.

## The next count

Elections BC's preliminary count covers ballots cast in person on voting day, October 24. Vote-by-mail, assisted telephone and absentee ballots are counted about two weeks later. The final count, which will add those ballots and include a formal recount in Ladysmith-Oceanside, runs from November 6 to 10, 2026.

The current figures are preliminary. Elections BC's results page at results.elections.bc.ca shows updated totals as they are confirmed, with an "As of" time. Any change in the lead will appear there first.

Follow the final count at Elections BC's results page, starting November 6, to see whether the lead in Ladysmith-Oceanside changes when mail-in and absentee ballots are added.

## Sitemap

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