Ballot recount launched in Metro Vancouver after early results show difference of 2 votes between candidates

Ballots from Saturday's election will be recounted in a Metro Vancouver city after preliminary results showed a difference of just two votes between two council candidates.

Port Moody's chief election officer said in a statement Monday an internal recount was initiated to confirm early results.

"The preliminary results show a close result – a difference of two votes – between two of the candidates who ran for the position of councillor," Philip Lo's statement said.

"While the city's General Local Government Election Bylaw and B.C.’s Local Government Act do not require an automatic recount under such circumstances, I feel it’s the right thing to do and supports our values of fairness and transparency, and our commitment to democracy."

Preliminary results show council candidate David Stuart was elected with 3,596 votes. Amy Lubik came just behind him, missing out on a seat on council, with 3,594 votes.

Lo explained the recount will be completed by himself and local election officials. The team will look at the ballots counted by 10 machines used in the election: two advance poll machines, one for mail-in ballots, and seven used on Election Day.

Those results will be compared to forms submitted by poll supervisors to check for discrepancies, Lo's statement said.

All sealed ballot boxes will also be reopened and the 8,989 ballots that were cast in the 10 machines will be fed through again. Those results will be compared to the preliminary ones.

The internal recount will be done on or before Wednesday, which is when official results must be declared under the Local Government Act. An internal recount is different than a judicial recount, which goes through provincial courts and is completed after the official election results are declared.

In Surrey, incumbent mayor Doug McCallum's Safe Surrey Coalition team said he is not yet conceding the election after preliminary results showed he lost to Brenda Locke by 973 votes. In that case, the party's lawyers are reviewing the process to request a judicial review. 

Meanwhile, in Canal Flats, a village in B.C.'s East Kootenay region, a judicial recount will be conducted due to a tie between two mayoral candidates. Both Mark Doherty and Douglas McCutcheon received 158 votes.

According to the village, the ballots were counted twice and the results were the same. If the tie remains after a judicial recount, the new mayor will be determined by drawing of lots.

"This is a highly unusual result, and village staff will work diligently to complete this process as soon as possible," a statement from the village issued Monday said.

"Thank you to Mr. Doherty and Mr. McCutcheon for their patience and understanding during this process."