FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 8, 2022
VICTORIA – A recall petition will be issued in the Vernon-Monashee 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 Harwinder Sandhu, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Vernon-Monashee. The proponent of the recall is Genevieve Ring.
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 must be approved if these legislated criteria are met. Elections BC does not have discretion to evaluate applications on any other criteria.
The petition will be issued on August 12, 2022, at which time registered canvassers may begin collecting signatures. The petition must be returned to Elections BC no later than October 11, 2022.
For the petition to be successful, registered canvassers must collect signatures from 40% or more of the voters eligible to sign the petition, or 21,268 voters. To be eligible to sign the petition, an individual must be a registered voter, and must have been registered to vote in Vernon-Monashee on October 24, 2020 (General Voting Day for the last provincial election in B.C.).
There are currently no registered canvassers for this petition.
The expenses limit for both the proponent and the Member is $37,046.52.
After the petition is submitted, Elections BC has 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 26 previous recall petitions 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:
Melanie Hull
Communications Advisor
Elections BC
Phone: 778-974-3276
Email: Melanie.Hull@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
