Byelection recount possible
Maria Canton
Northern News Services
Arctic Bay (Dec 11/00) - Rebecca Williams looks forward to taking the High Arctic seat in the Nunavut legislature, but first, she must await a recount.
Unofficially, Williams won last Monday's byelection with 88 votes. David Roberts came in second, with 80 votes.
Incumbent Levi Barnabas finished third with 73 votes.
His resignation after being convicted of sexual assault necessitated the byelection.
Williams, who lives in Iqaluit but was in Arctic Bay for the election, says she is happy with the preliminary results and is waiting to see what the official outcome will be.
"I knew it would be close because there were so many of us running from Arctic Bay," she said the morning after the election.
Similarly, David Roberts, who lives in Resolute Bay, said he is satisfied with results from his first run for a seat in the Legislative Assembly.
"After I heard the results I thought it was close and I thought I did better than I expected.
"I had resigned myself to the numbers and was a little surprised when I was told there will be a recount, but I don't think it will change anything," said Roberts.
According to the Elections Act, when the margin is two per cent or less between the top two finishers, an automatic recount is held before a judge.
Of the 598 eligible voters, 422 cast a ballot. Three ballots were rejected.
The judicial recount had not been called by deadline, however, because all of the ballot boxes had not arrived in Arctic Bay.
First, the returning officer needs to check the official counts from each community against the totals. If there is no change and the margin of two per cent or less still exists, the judicial recount will be ordered.
"We can't even do the official addition until Tuesday (Dec. 12) at the earliest because of flight schedules, weather and the municipal elections (today)," said Arctic Bay-based returning officer Cecil Marshall.
"In all likelihood, the earliest we'll have the official results will be the third week in December if not later than that."
Once a judicial recount is called, it has to be completed within 10 days, but Marshall fears that it may be difficult to find a judge so close to Christmas.
The results:
