Vernon-Monashee recall petition falls flat

An effort to recall Harwinder Sandhu, MLA for Vernon-Monashee, has failed, Elections BC announced Wednesday.

The petition started by Vernon resident Genevieve Ring was not submitted to Elections BC by Oct. 11,  the deadline established by the Recall and Initiative Act.

Why Ring failed to submit the petition at the deadline remains to be seen but she said in an interview in September that the process of collecting signatures was going more slowly than she’d anticipated.

The Vernon woman also said at that time that she launched a recall campaign against Sandhu because she is part of the government that failed British Columbians, particularly in the area of health care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The government has overstepped its bounds and its legal requirements to govern. They don’t govern well. They’ve made a mess of everything they’ve touched. I can’t do anything about calling an election but the thing I can do is recall the local MLA,” Ring said.

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Extended interview with BC NDP candidate for Vernon-Monashee Harwinder Sandhu

In order for the recall petition to have been successful, Elections BC said canvassers must have collected signatures from 40 per cent of eligible voters, or 21,268 people, by Oct. 11.  A total of 28 voters registered as canvassers to collect signatures.

Despite the petition’s failure, Ring is required to return the petition sheets to Elections BC, though how many of the required 21,268 signatures were collected may never be known.

The counts will not be available once the petition is received, as Elections BC takes no steps to count or verify signatures for late petitions.

The recall proponent and MLA must file financial disclosure reports with the chief electoral officer on or before 4:30 p.m. Nov.  8.

Twenty-seven recall petitions have been issued since the Recall and Initiative Act came into force in 1995. None have met the requirements established by the act.

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