VICTORIA — B.C. Greens have started to elect their new leader, and one candidate says she is paying close attention to that process as the party looks to verify thousands of new members before announcing the winner on Sept. 24.

Emily Lowan says she is working constructively with the party to ensure that the vast majority of new members will be verified in time to cast their ballots, but has also retained legal counsel to “ensure that all voters can have their voices heard.”

Voting started Saturday and ends Sept. 23, but Lowan has expressed concerns about the ability of the party to verify all new members by Sept. 22, with the party citing the threat of foreign interference as reason for the verification process.

Lowan is running for the leadership against Jonathan Kerr and Adam Bremner-Akins, and has previously called for changes that she says would simplify the verifications.

They include accepting credit card payments as verification proof for non-youth-members, and extending the verification process by one day so it matches the voting period, while adding more staff.

Interim leader Jeremy Valeriote said in a news release Thursday that 40 per cent of all new members have been verified, adding party has the capacity and resources to verify the identity of all new, eligible members who want to vote in the leadership contest.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published September 14, 2025.