FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 24, 2023
VICTORIA – A recall petition will be issued in the Surrey-Green Timbers electoral district, after Elections BC received a petition application that met the requirements of the Recall and Initiative Act.
The subject of the recall petition is Rachna Singh, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Surrey-Green Timbers. The proponent of the recall is Gurdeep Jassal.
Under the Recall and Initiative Act, any registered voter in British Columbia can apply to have a recall petition issued for their electoral district. They must submit an application form, a $50 processing fee, and a statement of 200 words or less on why they feel the Member should be recalled. Applications are evaluated based on legal requirements. Elections BC has no discretion to evaluate applications on other criteria, such as the petition’s likelihood of success.
The petition will be issued on November 30, 2023, at which time registered canvassers may begin collecting signatures. The petition must be returned to Elections BC no later than January 29, 2024.
For the petition to be successful, registered canvassers must collect signatures from more than 40% of the voters eligible to sign the petition, or 11,811 voters. To be eligible to sign the petition, an individual must be a registered voter, and must have been a registered voter in the Surrey-Green Timbers electoral district on October 24, 2020 (Final Voting Day for the last provincial election).
The expenses limit for both the proponent and the Member is $31,633.94. The expenses limit for recall advertising sponsors is $5,839.16.
If the petition is submitted and it is clear that the signature threshold has not been met, Elections BC will take no further action. If the petition is submitted and it is possible that the signature threshold has been met, Elections BC will have 42 days to verify that those who signed the petition were eligible to do so. In the event of a successful recall petition, the recalled Member’s seat becomes vacant and a by-election must be called within 90 days. The recalled Member can run as a candidate in the by-election.
The Chief Electoral Officer has approved 29 previous recall petition applications since the Recall and Initiative Act came into force in 1995. Six of those petitions were returned to Elections BC for verification. Of the six, five did not have enough valid signatures and one was halted during the verification process because the Member resigned.
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Contact:
Andrew Watson
Senior Director, Communications
Elections BC
Phone: 250-387-1709
Email: Andrew.Watson@elections.bc.ca
Website: elections.bc.ca
Elections BC is the independent, non-partisan Office of the Legislature responsible for administering electoral processes in British Columbia under provincial legislation, including the Election Act, Local Elections Campaign Financing Act, Recall and Initiative Act and Referendum Act.
Toll-Free: 1-800-661-8683
TTY: 1-888-456-5448
electionsbc@elections.bc.ca
Toll-Free Fax: 1-866-466-0665s
