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(LifeSiteNews) — Recounts are underway in British Columbia following Saturday’s election that has the Conservative Party and the reigning New Democratic Party in a virtual tie.

When all initial polls had been counted, the B.C. Conservatives under leader John Rustad had 45 seats, while the ruling NDP under Premier David Eby had 46 seats. A party needs 47 seats to form a majority government in the province.  

The Green Party had 2 seats, meaning should the above seat count remain the same, the distant third party will effectively hold the balance of power. Current Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau lost her seat Saturday, which leaves in doubt whether the party will support the NDP as it has done since 2017. 

As a result of the close results, Elections B.C. said in a statement that recounts are underway, with results not coming until at least October 26. Votes were counted both by hand and electronic tabulation. 

“As part of this process, further quality assurance checks are conducted on the results reported at initial count. Any transcription errors identified will be corrected on the Elections BC website and candidates will be notified. Ballots considered at final count are screened before being counted to ensure that the voter was eligible and that they only voted once,” said Elections B.C. 

Neither Rustad nor Eby claimed victory or admitted defeat in their election night speeches, but the tight race is largely considered disastrous for the ruling NDP who handily won the 2020 election. 

The strong showing of the B.C. Conservatives means that should they form a government, it will be the first time in 100 years the province has been ruled by a party with “Conservative” in its name, something noted by Rustad in his election night speech.  

“We now have the strongest Conservative party that this province has seen in 100 years,” he said to his supporters late Saturday. “This is what happens when you stand on values. This is what happens when you stand on principles.” 

Rustad won his seat easily, beating out his NDP rival with 68 percent of the vote. His win was the first time since 1978 that a Conservative has won a seat in the B.C. legislature. 

It hasn’t been since 1991, the last year B.C. was ruled by the Social Credit Party under pro-life Premier Bill Vander Zalm, that the province has been under the control of parties other than the NDP or Liberals. 

B.C.’s Conservative Party shot up in popularity after the former Liberal Party of the province, under its new name B.C. United, lagged in the polls. The B.C. united decided shortly before the election to pull all its candidates and throw its support behind the Conservatives. 

Rustad, a former Liberal MLA, also gained popularity for promising to restore order and oppose the woke policies popularized under the NDP. 

As reported by LifeSiteNews, Rustad, just days before the election, condemned sexually explicit material in school libraries and indicated that he would remove them if elected. 

Rustad has also come out in opposition to the use of often-sterilizing puberty blockers for gender-confused children andhas condemned SOGI 123, a nationwide program pushing LGBT ideology in schools under the label of “inclusivity.” 

At the same time, Rustad has an upsetting record for conservatives when it comes to important life and family issues, garnering an “F” rating by Campaign Life Coalition over his support for abortion and the continued public funding of the deadly practice.

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