Creston’s Chief Election Officer Stacey Hadley has made the decision to apply to the Provincial Court requesting the Court to conduct a judicial recount of the ballots cast in the recent municipal election. Under the Local Government Act of BC, the Chief Elections Officer is responsible for conducting municipal elections in accordance with the Act.
The purpose of requesting the judicial recount by the Provincial Court is to confirm the accuracy of the counting of the ballots due to the closeness of the ballot count. An independent official, a judge, will decide if any ballots were not correctly accepted or not correctly rejected, as required by the rules in sections 139 and 149 of the Local Government Act. If granted, ballots for all categories (Mayor, Councillors, and Referendum) would be recounted.
A judicial recount must be conducted in accordance with section 149 of the Act and completed by the end of the 13th day after the close of general voting, which is November 2, 2018. The Court will review the application for a judicial recount on October 31, 2018, at 9:30 am in the Provincial Court Chambers in Creston (224-10th Ave. North) and rule then on whether a judicial recount will be held. This hearing is open to the public.
The Chief Elections Officer for the Town of Creston has notified all candidates and Town Council of the request for a recount. Under section 149 of the Act, the chief election officer, the candidates in the election and the official agents and counsel of the candidates are entitled to be present at a judicial recount. Other persons may be present only if permitted by the court. If others wish to be present, they must ask the court’s permission at the application hearing on October 31, 2018.
Section 149 of the Act permits the judge to appoint persons to assist in the recount. This has resulted in a usual process where the judge appoints the Chief Elections Officer, who is required by the Act to bring the ballot boxes to the court, to conduct the visual inspection of the ballots under the direction and supervision of the Provincial Court judge. The judge will visually inspect ballots identified by the Chief Elections Officer as possibly not complying with section 139 of the Act and will rule on their validity. After the judge approves the final count, the judge will formally declare the results of the election.
“As Chief Election Officer I have made the decision to apply for a judicial recount due to the close nature of the election outcome and to confirm the accuracy of the election counting process,” Hadley said, in an email. “It is important to note that the Town of Creston fully supports the administration of the election process and that this is to confirm the accuracy of the ballots counted.”
Hadley will provide additional information as it comes available.