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INUVIK
Alfred Moses retains his MLA-elect status for Inuvik Boot Lake after a recount on Oct. 13 at the Inuvik courthouse.

Alfred Moses retained his status as MLA-elect for Inuvik Boot Lake following a judicial recount. -

A Supreme Court judge, along with chief electoral officer David Brock, returning officer Arlene Hansen and representatives for three out of four candidates in the election attended the recount.

Candidates Chris Larocque and Alfred Moses were five votes apart in the final results of the territorial election on Oct. 3, with Moses declared the winner with 216 votes over Larocque's 211.

The recount confirmed that those numbers were accurate. A recount was mandatory under election legislation because the difference was less than two per cent.

"It provides confidence to the frontrunner, the other candidates and the public that they can have confidence in the results," Brock said. "It's pretty common in electoral rules that if it's that close then a different and impartial party must recount."

The last recount in the NWT was in a 2004 byelection in the Inuvik Twin Lakes riding. Robert C. McLeod received 11 more votes than Pauline Gordon for a difference of one per cent. McLeod maintained the win and is still the MLA for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Voter turnout in Inuvik Boot Lake for the territorial election was 84 per cent, with 506 votes cast. Moses had 216 while Larocque had 211. Two other candidates, Grant Gowans and Paul Voudrach, also campaigned and received 63 and 18 votes respectively.

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