Chatham-Kent taxpayers will not have to foot the bill for an election recount after a former mayoral candidate unsuccessfully took the municipality to court.
Representing himself, Robert Salvatore Powers appeared in the Ontario Court of Justice in Chatham over a dispute with how votes were counted in West Kent (Ward 1) during the October election. According to Powers, his concern was that over 50 per cent of the ballots came from "unspecified polls."
Judge John Paul Howard dismissed Powers’ application after oral arguments stating that the affidavit presented by the municipality explained why the ballots were categorized as unspecified. Howard said Powers had a chance to cross-examine the affidavit and provide his own affidavit to support his application, but didn't.
Howard added it was made clear that the poll matrix wasn't legible on some of the ballots because the deputy returning officers used a pen instead of a marker, so the ink wasn't dark enough for the tabulators to read. The marks made by the voters, however, were clear and legible.
"Such information is not required to be on the ballots but rather is additional, optional information that the respondent included in the ballots for informational and/or statistical purposes," Howard said in his rationale. "The 'unspecified poll' matrix information does not relate to a vote and, strictly speaking, is not relevant to the actual election results."
He added both elected councillors, Mark Authier and Melissa Harrigan, won by such a large margin that a recount isn't necessary. Howard said the next closest candidate was over 600 votes short of Harrigan's total, so Powers’ argument that there is uncertainty in the election is invalid.
"We were confident that the election had been run fairly and the will of the citizens of Ward 1 had been reflected in the final vote totals," said municipal Clerk Judy Smith in a written statement. "However, we also respect the court's role in oversight of this important process and appreciated Justice Howard's timely review and decision."
The application will hit Powers in the pocket as Howard ordered him to pay $250 to cover legal fees for the municipality. Howard went easy on Powers, however, as the respondent was asking for $1,000.
BlackburnNews.com has reached out to Powers regarding the judge's decision to deny the recount, but a response was not received before publication.
