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A provincial Supreme Court justice has granted a Liberal Party request for a recount in the district of Topsail-Paradise — but rejected the party’s request in two other districts.
The party had requested three recounts — in the districts of Topsail-Paradise, Placentia West-Bellevue, Lewisporte-Twillingate. Dan Bobbett, Brian Keating and Derek Bennett were the Liberal candidates in each respective district.
Bobbett lost his race to PC incumbent Paul Dinn, who held his seat in Topsail-Paradise with a 102-vote lead.
But Justice Alphonsus Faour said affidavits show that on some ballots candidates’ names were circled instead of marked with an X, and it’s possible some were accepted and others rejected.
If Bobbett is the winner after the recount, it could flip the PC’s majority government status.
Derek Bennett will not be returning to the House of Assembly, after a Supreme Court justice ruled there will be no recount in Lewisporte-Twillingate. (Ryan Cooke/CBC)
Bennett lost his seat in Lewisporte-Twillingate to Progressive Conservative candidate Mark Butt by only 18 votes. In that case, Justice Alphonsus Faour said he “could not draw a conclusion that the count was improper” and did not see evidence of a single miscounted ballot.
Placentia West-Bellevue went to PC incumbent Jeff Dwyer on election night, when he beat Keating by 64 votes.
The threshold for an automatic recount in an N.L. election is a margin of 10 votes.
Mixed emotions from both sides
Bennett told reporters on Friday he’s disappointed with the judge’s decision to dismiss the recount application for Lewisporte-Twillingate, especially since there was only an 18-vote difference.
The former House of Assembly speaker and longtime politician said it raises questions about the province’s electoral system.
“I definitely think there needs to be some reform,” said Bennett. “I know some jurisdictions have different thresholds, some go by a percentage.”
Megan Reynolds, lawyer for the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador, speaks to reporters. (Ryan Cooke/CBC)
Megan Reynolds, the Liberal candidates’ lawyer, pointed out the irony of the contested district with the widest margin being granted a recount.
“The judge has determined with the additional affidavit that we filed from a scrutineer that had scrutinized on election night that… the evidentiary threshold was met in that case. So we are pleased to see that there’s going to be a recount in Topsail Paradise,” she said.
The lawyer representing the PC candidates, Adrienne Ding, said she is happy with the first two rulings — but is also happy to participate in the Topsail-Paradise recount.
MHA-elect Mark Butt told reporters that he’s relieved that his wait is over.
“I look forward to getting back to work and representing my district soon as I’m sworn in,” he said. “I was in good hands.”
Mark Butt sat on the sidelines as his Progressive Conservative colleagues were sworn in as members of the House of Assembly. Now it will be his turn. (Ryan Cooke/CBC)Threshold arguments
Reynolds cited alleged inconsistencies during the counting of special ballots while in Supreme Court this week.
According to the affidavits, the Liberal Party’s lead scrutineer Jeanette Fleming observed some special ballots where voters circled a candidate’s name instead of marking an X being counted, while other similar ballots were rejected.
Fleming also observed some votes written on the counterfoil — the section that gets torn off — of special ballots be rejected by elections staff in some cases and accepted in others.
Justice Faour and the PC candidates’ lawyer Adrienne Ding both pointed out the alleged problems were observed in the districts of Lake Melville, Torngat Mountains and St. Barbe-L’Anse aux Meadows, and not in the districts where the Liberals are asking for a recount.
Reynolds said the issues could have affected results in the districts in question.
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