The B.C. Conservatives plan to file a formal complaint to B.C. RCMP over potential violations of the provincial Election Act at the Surrey health-care facility that's at the centre of the party's allegations of voting "irregularities" in the 2024 provincial election.

Conservative MLA Steve Kooner (Richmond-Queensborough) said Monday morning (Jan. 13) that the complaint will be filed within the next 48 hours. It will ask the RCMP to investigate potential offences under S. 104.01 of the Election Act, the section concerning mail-in voting. Such a formal complaint would open up another front of inquiry in the alleged irregularities surrounding the election in Surrey-Guildford – the riding that gave the B.C. NDP its single-seat majority following the Oct. 19 provincial election.

Honveer Singh Randhawa, who lost Surrey-Guildford by 22 votes to New Democrat Garry Begg following a judicial recount, announced last week that he will ask the Supreme Court of British Columbia to invalidate Begg's election, citing voting irregularities at Argyll Lodge under Section 150 of the Election Act. Elections BC has also announced a review of the allegations following a complaint from Randhawa.

Kooner announced that the formal complaint would be filed after Black Press Media reached about his party's release calling for a formal investigation, with the filing of a specific complaint going beyond a more general appeal. 

In an interview, Kooner pointed to inconsistencies in the respective statements from the manager of the Argyll Lodge, Baljit Kandola, and Elections BC.

Kandola had told that Vancouver Sun that Elections BC sent in mail-in ballots to the facility for residents to cast. She claimed that the agency has done so in every election, including federal elections, for the last 30 years and that she has never requested the ballots. However, Elections BC disputed Kandola's claims and said that ballots have to be requested from individual voters as per the section of the Election Act cited by Kooner.

"These inconsistent statements are made with the surrounding circumstances that there was a very tight election that happened in this particular riding," Kooner said in his interview. "Not only was there a tight election in this particular riding and ramifications provincially, it was the NDP's route to government. So when you have all these circumstances and the issues are significant and when you have inconsistent statement like this ... there is merit for the RCMP to actually do an investigation."

Kooner said "further particulars" about the complaint would be "available at a later time when the formal police complaint is actually made" when asked about whom the complaint would name, among other questions. 

"So we are not assessing blame, right, but we need ... an RCMP investigation," Kooner said. "We need a police investigation to kind of get to the bottom of this, to find out exactly went on, to find to out if there was a possible violation of Section 104."

When asked about the possibility that the statements of the lodge's manager were not accurate reflections of what actually happened, Kooner said that it would be up to the police to investigate those statements. 

When asked whether this formal complaint is just another way for Kooner's party to keep this story in the news, he pointed to the closeness of the election in his response.

"So in order to protect the integrity of our election system and in order to protect public confidence in our election system, it is important to have a vigorous scrutiny of any sort of inconsistent statements," he said. 

Kooner described the statements of the lodge's manager in the Conservatives' press release as "absurd on their face."

“Neither Elections BC nor Elections Canada 'deliver’ ballots in bulk to licensed addiction and recovery facilities, certainly not 21 ballots," he said. "Elections BC has already refuted this claim, quickly and clearly."

He also added that strict rules exist about who may assist a voter in completing and returning a mail-in ballot – only one person may assist any individual voter. With this statement, he was referring to claims that voters received ineligible assistance in filing out ballots. 

Kooner also cited the punishment under the Election Act for the alleged violations, ranging from fines up to $20,000 and jail time up to two years. "(That's) the way it should be," he said. 

More broadly, the Conservatives allege 45 cases of irregularities at the lodge: 21 involve mail-in ballots cast; 22 votes cast by allegedly ineligible voters and one voter allegedly voting twice, using two slightly different names. 

These allegations represent the core of the case by Randhawa, who  last week.

Speaking to media last week, Conservative Leader John Rustad said that his party is not directly involved in Randhawa's court challenge — which faces a deadline of Jan. 16 — but "is doing work behind the scenes" in helping to collect additional information. Rustad also said that determine will decide at a later time whether to cover Randhawa's legal bills. 

When contacted, Argyll Lodge directed calls to Fraser Health, which has not yet responded to a request for comment from the Surrey Now-Leader. 

Elections BC confirmed it had received a complaint from Randhawa on Jan. 3 and that its investigation is ongoing.

A statement from Elections BC said it takes "any potential violations" of the Elections Act seriously.

"As with any complaint we receive, we are reviewing these allegations," Melanie Hull, senior communications advisor, said. "They have not been substantiated or proven in a court. We are unable to provide further information on these allegations while our review is ongoing." 

Hull said she could not provide any specific information about the allegations surrounding Argyll Lodge but noted that all voters may request a vote-by-mail package. Vote-by-mail packages require "unique identifiers" for each voter, she said.

"Voters must request vote-by-mail packages themselves. Another individual can assist the voter with this process if the voter has a physical disability, difficulties with reading or writing, or requires the assistance of a translator," she noted. "This individual must only assist one voter in an election. As an exception to this rule, this individual may assist more than one member of their family."

Black Press Media has also reached out to B.C. RCMP for comment.