A recount has been ordered in the state Sydney seat of Ryde, after weeks of counting left the NSW Liberal candidate just 50 votes ahead of his Labor opponent.

The recount will delay the declaration of the results of the March 25 election in the NSW lower house, which was due to take place tomorrow.

“I am satisfied there are factors relevant to this particular election that mean a recount is appropriate before proceeding to declare the final results,” NSW Electoral Commissioner John Schmidt said today.

It comes after the NSW Labor Party formally requested the recount yesterday, with Liberal candidate Jordan Lane about 50 votes ahead of Labor’s Lyndal Howison.

The call was largely due to the small number of votes separating the two candidates, after preferences were distributed, Schmidt said.

“There is no automatic requirement to recount votes when a result is close in a NSW election, as is the case in a federal election, and no errors in counting had been found,” he said.

However, a number of factors meant having a recount was appropriate, including that the Ryde electorate had its boundaries redrawn in 2021, and the margin between the two candidates had tightened significantly since the last election.

The recount will begin on Saturday and extend until Monday if necessary.

If Labor cannot secure a win in Ryde, it will hold 45 seats in the lower house, and require the support of two crossbench MPs to pass legislation.

AAP