Recount confirms Nakimayak victory
Win comes with a slim four votes over incumbent Jackie Jacobson
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, December 4, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A judicial recount in Yellowknife resulting from the territorial election last week confirmed Herbert Nakimayak won by four votes over Jackie Jacobson in the Nunakput electoral district.
Nicole Latour, NWT chief electoral officer, said she intends to write a recount guide to make sure future ones are carried out smoothly. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo
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NWT Supreme Court Justice Andrew Mahar oversaw the recount in a city courtroom with a lawyer representing Jacobson, Nakimayak himself and other election officials.
"I think the results just confirmed that the people of Nunakput wanted change and they got it for the best," Nakimayak said about the decision.
Jackie Jacobson declined to comment, telling News/North to speak instead to his lawyer Austin Marshall, who represented him during the recount. Marshall said he wasn't able to say anything.
The recount was one of three that happened following the Nov. 23 territorial election. Judicial recounts are automatic when there is less than two per cent of the votes separating the person in first from the person in second place.
The Nunakput recount began slowly as all involved got a sense of how to carry it out to meet the requirements of the Elections and Plebiscites Act.
One of the first issues they had to decide how to handle was what to do with ballots that were borderline between whether they should be accepted or rejected.
Some ballots were rejected because people made pencil marks in multiple circles were the 'X' is supposed to go.
The recounts were firsts for Nicole Latour, the NWT chief electoral officer. She intends to write a guide to help make future recounts run smoother.
"I'll pencil down what process we undertook to help guide the justice so the approach is always the same or similar," she said.
While the recount was happening in a courtroom, it was set up unlike any other hearing.
The judge came off the raised bench and helped move boxes of votes, at one point even trying to move a large table to make more space in the tight corner of the room where everyone had gathered.
The courtroom was closed to the public for the recount. The only media allowed in were those present before it began, who were told they must agree to a court order barring release of the results before Elections NWT, not to take photos and to protect the privacy of voters if personal information was observed.
The ballot boxes were resealed after the recount and will be kept for a year, Latour said.
The other two recounts for Yellowknife North and Range Lake also upheld the original winners.
