Calgary election recount denial sparks anger, potential court complaints
Two second-place council candidates are upset with Elections Calgary over its decision to deny their election recount requests.
Four requests were officially turned down on Thursday, but it's two especially-tight races that are the focus of candidate disappointment Friday.
In Ward 9, runner-up Naomi Withers says she had enough evidence in her request to warrant another look.
"This is about making sure the vote is counted," Withers told CTV News. "This must happen, regardless of the vote and which way it goes."
Withers lost to incumbent Gian-Carlo Carra by only 161 votes.
In a series of tweets, she alleges her scrutineers spotted issues with tabulator machines and with administration rules regarding vote observation.
She says the recount request process was a puzzling one.
"So there might actually have to be some process improvements with Elections Calgary back-and-forth when someone does request a recount, because I'm not a lawyer and I don't think many of us are," she said.
"We could come out and be off by 400 votes, and that's something our team is OK with."
According to the city, the Elections Calgary returning officer needs to determine there's been a technical or administrative error that would've impacted the vote in order to accept a recount request.
The officer may also initiate a recount on their own volition if they consider the number of rejected and objected-to ballots would have an effect on the results.
There is no recount process which is initiated because of a close vote result.
A statement from the city's communications teams says "in the case of the four recount requests made by candidates, and the returning officer’s own review of administrative and technical matters, there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the result of the count of votes was inaccurate."
In Ward 4, DJ Kelly disagrees.
Kelly lost to incumbent Sean Chu in another tight race, the two candidates separated by only 100 votes.
"The Local Authorities Elections Act as it is written gives the returning officer limited discretion and authority to conduct a recount," Kelly's statement to CTV News reads. "As a result, I will begin the process of requesting a judicial recount."
Recounts were also denied in Ward 3 and in the mayoral race.
Any runner up is eligible to file a complaint for a judicial review.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.