A ballot recount in Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore has confirmed a Conservative win in the border city riding, formalizing the party’s blue wave in Canada’s most southern tip.
The recount, which started Tuesday and wrapped up Thursday, narrowed Conservative candidate Kathy Borrelli’s margin of victory over Liberal incumbent Irek Kusmierczyk to a mere four votes, according to sources within both political parties.
Unofficial results for the riding after the April 28 federal election showed Borrelli had won by 233 votes. But once Elections Canada validated the results, that lead dropped to 77 — just seven votes shy of triggering an automatic recount based on the total number of votes cast in the riding.
A judge on May 9 approved Kusmierczyk’s request for a judicial recount, ruling that there was sufficient evidence to justify one.
“We got a shot. That’s all we asked for,” Kusmierczyk said outside the courthouse in downtown Windsor after the judge approved the recount.
“At the end of the day, what we’re after is clarity and confidence for this community in the results of the election,” he said.
Borrelli said at the time that she respected the judge’s order and would “co-operate fully” with the process.
WATCH | Recount ordered in Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore election results:
The judicial recount began on Monday for the Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore federal riding. The CBC’s Katerina Georgieva explains how we got here and what happens now.
Kusmierczyk’s application relied on affidavits from several scrutineers for his campaign who said they witnessed elections officials reject ballots that they believed were valid.
Those ballots included instances where voters had made additional markings outside the circle next to Kusmierczyk’s name to indicate their support for him.
Elections Canada data showed that of the roughly 70,000 ballots cast in the riding, more than 500 were rejected.
Kusmierczyk made a call for donations before the process began. “Every bit helps with the cost of the recount,” he said on social media.
Borrelli posted on social media as well, saying her “team of expert scrutineers and lawyers” would be present “to make sure that each and every ballot is fairly counted.” She also apologized for the “delay in service” the recount had caused the community but said her team was eager to get to work.
She had previously travelled to Ottawa with fellow local Conservatives for meetings and orientation before Parliament resumes at the end of the month.
The recount took place in a Tecumseh strip mall and took three days to complete.
The local recount was among a handful of others in close races across the country — including one where the Liberal candidate won by a single vote.
The official results in Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore come just days ahead of the House’s return on May 26 and a throne speech by King Charles III the day after.
