News Release

FREDERICTON (GNB) – Six municipal recounts have concluded without changing any of the candidates who were declared elected on May 9.

Recounts were held over the past week in Campbellton, New Maryland, Rexton, Riverview (Ward 2), Rivière-Verte and Saint-André (Ward 1). In each case, the recount conducted by the municipal returning officer for the region confirmed the results reported from the vote tabulation machines used during the election.

“These recounts support the confidence that we have in the tabulation machine technology and its accuracy, particularly in complex municipal, school district and health authority elections,” said Michael Quinn, chief electoral officer.

In the Rivière-Verte recount, the candidate who was declared the winner on election night by eight votes received one additional vote from a ballot that was not processed through a tabulation machine on election night and was instead placed in a sealed envelope within the ballot transfer box.

There were 29 contests in the May 9 elections where the margin of votes between a winning candidate and the runner-up was less than 25 votes. In the 2012 quadrennial elections, there were 45 contests with the same close margin. This resulted in 16 recounts, all of which confirmed the winning candidates declared on election night.

Under the Municipal Elections Act, a candidate who participated in a recount with a municipal returning officer has the option to file for a judicial recount within 10 days following the conclusion of the initial recount.