Multiple close races in Calgary’s municipal election have prompted a number of runner-up candidates to request recounts of the results.
According to unofficial results from Elections Calgary, a margin of 29 votes separates winner Mike Jamieson and runner-up Sarah Ferguson in Ward 12.
Jamieson, who ran for the A Better Calgary Party, earned 6,848 votes, or 30 per cent of the vote.
Ferguson, The Calgary Party’s candidate in Ward 12, announced Wednesday she is requesting a preliminary recount due to a “risk of human error” as the ballots were counted by hand under new provincial guidelines for the election.
While Ferguson said she recognizes the challenges with manually counting ballots, she claimed her scrutineers “observed several discrepancies” during the count.
“We have these processes in place for a reason so it’s important that we go through the proper processes to have that confidence in these votes,” Ferguson told Global News.
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“I want to do this for the people out here and for myself, so we know confidently that whatever the end result is what the end result is.”
A preliminary recount has been requested by Ward 9 runner-up Gar Gar, who ran as an independent.
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Gar came in just 267 votes shy of winner Harrison Clark, another independent candidate, who earned 27.2 per cent of the vote, or 4,845 votes.
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He alleged his scrutineers found and helped correct 45 mistakes in the hand count on election night and claims election officials working long hours with new procedures may have created conditions for human error.
“My hope for the recount is it will give us the confidence, accountability and give us the trust so when Calgarians stood in that line, they know ‘my vote counts,’” Gar said Wednesday.
The deadline for candidates to request a preliminary recount of the unofficial results was Wednesday afternoon.
According to Elections Calgary, a preliminary recount can be requested by the runner-up candidate if they show grounds that the count of votes from a voting station is inaccurate.
The returning officer may also call a preliminary recount if the number of rejected or objected ballots could have affected the results, or if the returning officer finds there may have been an administrative or technical error, according to Elections Calgary.
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“Once that request has come in, I would review the request, I would look at the criteria, whether that’s for the recount request for the official count or the unofficial count, and then I would make a determination,” Elections Calgary chief returning officer Kate Martin said at a press conference Tuesday night.
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Another scenario that allows runner-up candidates to request a recount is if the margin of victory at a particular voting station is within half of one percentage point.
The deadline for requesting that type of recount is 72 hours after the election results are made official on Friday.
Communities First mayoral candidate Sonya Sharp announced Tuesday she would be requesting a recount, with 583 votes separating her and mayor-elect Jeromy Farkas, according to the unofficial results.
“Given the razor-thin margin of victory in this election, it makes ample sense to review and double-check that appropriate processes were followed, and the count is accurate,” Sharp said in a statement.
“I am happy to accept the outcome of this review, win or lose, because the final word of our citizens is what matters most in local government.”
Lori Williams, an associate professor of policy studies at Mount Royal University, said it’s “entirely possible” mistakes were made with the narrow margin in Ward 12, but noted it’s “hard to imagine” the mayoral result would be overturned by a recount.
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However, Williams said a recount of the votes could help increase trust in the process.
“I think potentially affirming the results of the election can actually increase confidence that the results do, in fact, reflect the intention of the voting public,” she said.
The deadline for Elections Calgary to make results official is noon Friday, while the deadline to complete a close vote recount of the official results is noon on Oct. 29.
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