Coppermine (Mar 07/05) - In the midst of a controversy over ballots cast in the December hamlet election, mayor Ernie Bernhardt, 61, said he doesn't want to be the mayor of Kugluktuk anymore.

Bernhardt announced his resignation on Feb. 25 citing personal reasons for his decision.

Senior administrative officer Paul Waye said he was "blind-sided" by Bernhardt's resignation.

"I was shocked," said Waye. "He really wanted to be mayor."

Bernhardt beat out Peter Taptuna for the mayor's seat in December by just one vote (67-66).

Since then, there have been concerns about the way ballots were counted and whether ballots that were not properly initialled by the returning officer and assistant returning officer should be counted or not.

Waye, who was the election's returning officer, admits he "screwed up" the initialling of the ballots and has publicly apologized for the errors that led local resident Russ Sheppard to call for a judge to scrutinize the ballots.

There were 188 ballots cast and a total of 188 people voted so there was no ballot box stuffing, Waye said. The initialling was the problem that changed the course of the election.

"It was just an oversight on my part," said Waye of the initialling issue. "I made a mistake."

Now that Bernhardt has stepped down Sheppard doesn't know what to do.

"I don't know what the options are," said Sheppard, who is a social studies teacher at Kugluktuk high school. "I don't have the information to give you an answer. The petition is still filed. I haven't had time to look into it."

Ultimately, the hamlet must decide at their next council meeting, March 7, if they want to appoint Taptuna or hold a by-election.

Bernhardt currently works for the Government of Nunavut's health and social services department as community development consultant.

Bernhardt was unavailable for comment.