The 13 council candidates who did not secure a seat on council – and any other person qualified to run for municipal office in Thompson – could have a second shot for all the marbles, in the form of the eighth seat on council, in a byelection to fill the vacancy resutling from Chiew Chong and Andre Proulx both receiving 1,008 votes for that seat in the Oct. 24 general election in Thompson.
A byelection may not be necessary, however, if senior election official Dave Turpie, a voter or a either Chong or Proulx apply for a judicial recount that then determines that they did not receive the same number of valid votes.
The Municipal Councils and School Boards Elections Act says that if two or more candidates for the same office can not be declared elected because each has received the same number of votes, the senior election official must declare the office vacant and hold a byelection to fill it, except when a judicial recount is applied for.
The senior election official must apply for a judicial recount if a tie has been declared and any objection was made to a decision by an election official to accept or reject a ballot.
Candidates can apply for a recount if a candidate cannot be declared elected because of a tie vote for two or more candidates.
Voters may apply for a judicial recount on the grounds that ballots were not correctly accepted, rejected or discarded in accordance with election rules. They can also apply on the grounds that a statement of the vote does not accurately record the number of valid votes for a candidate, or that the statement of official results did not correctly tabulate the total number of votes for a candidate.
Applications for judicial recounts must be made within 14 days after the senior election official has finally declared the results of an election.
If there is still a tie between two or more candidates after a recount, a byelection must be held to fill the office.
