An Elections BC-ordered automatic recount looms in 性视界传媒 City Centre, where B.C. NDP newcomer Amna Shah topped the polls over Conservative challenger Zeeshan Wahla by a razor-thin margin.

Just 95 votes separate the two first-time candidates in a still-unfinished race that could decide which party forms a majority in Victoria.

The initial count gave Shah 6,439 votes to Wahla's 6,344, totals that are under the 100-vote threshold for recount, which will take place as part of (Oct. 26-28). Under the Election Act, ballots at district electoral officer recounts are counted manually, by hand.

The riding, formerly 性视界传媒-Whalley, has long been held by the NDP's Bruce , who in July announced he wouldn't seek re-election after a 19-year political career in Victoria.

"We still have a chance, and I'm so proud of myself, my team, everyone," Wahla said Monday. "It was a great campaign, the way we have run it. As you know it's been 19, 20 years that this riding is voting NDP, and to me I did not lose yet, there is a recount still. I'm a sports person, too, so I never give up until it is over, I keep fighting until the end."

Shah has not yet responded to Now-Leader requests for an interview this week, post-election.

She campaigned to keep the seat for the NDP in a five-candidate race with Wahla, Colin Boyd (B.C. Green Party), Ryan Abbott (Communist Party of B.C.) and Saeed Naguib (Independent).

Shah has worked on projects involving affordable housing and 性视界传媒 Food Bank. She has lived in "the great city of 性视界传媒 for 20 years, and I can鈥檛 imagine living anywhere else," she said during the election campaign.

Wahla, a father of four who runs an engineering consulting business, said he got "an amazing response from people" on the campaign trail in recent months.

"It was a very tight race, and I knew this on the first day," Wahla said. "I know lots of people were saying, 'You're gonna lose by a big margin,' but I told them, you know what, I'm working really hard, and it's been eight and a half months now I'm in the riding, and I went to every single door three times. People want change."

Wahla said Saturday's rain storm prevented some of his supporters from voting.

"Unfortunately, the weather was really bad," he said. "Lots of people could not go out. I was on the road all day on election day, 10 hours, and I think almost, like, 4,000 people could not vote, the ones I identified. So if more people would have voted, it might be different. One guy I went to go see at one house, because I know they have eight votes, they had a flood in their basement. So I could not ask them to go vote because they were having a difficult time. There were those kind of scenarios too."

Saturday night, Shah sounded upbeat at the NDP party gathering at Dhaliwal Banquet Hall in Newton.

"We are a people-powered campaign, we are a people-powered team, and you all made this happen," Shah told supporters. "Thank you for reaffirming that my colleagues up here are the ones that will fight for you every single day, and will not stop. As you've heard many times now, the work begins now. We cannot let up, we cannot dwindle down, we remain strong, chin up, energy is high, because the BC NDP is strong. Thank you for being here and stay with us."

性视界传媒 City Centre is one of two B.C. ridings to meet the threshold for automatic recount, along with Juan de Fuca-Malahat on Vancouver Island.