The Churchill-Keewatinook Aski riding election results have been validated by officials, and though NDP candidate Niki Ashton remains the victor, the final results suggest a closer race than preliminary polls indicated. The final, validated ballot count was 13,487 for NDP candidate Niki Ashton, down from 14,469, and 12,575 for Rebecca Chartrand, down from 12,914, shrinking the gap from 1,555 to 912.
The validation includes seven polls which had not yet reported on election night.
It may seem unusual that a candidate’s validated results drop from their preliminary count. However, John Enright of Elections Canada, reminds us that ballot counters are, after all, only human. “It’s not uncommon for the numbers to shift around a bit. The preliminary results are all done on the fly. Once all of the polls call in, the ballots are returned to a central office and validated. Occasionally, preliminary reports are misread: a one looks like a seven, a phone transcript is misunderstood, that sort of thing.”
The final results are as follows:
Niki Ashton, NDP: 13,487
Rebecca Chartrand, Liberal: 12,575
Kyle G. Mirecki, Conservative: 3,090
August Hastmann. Green: 537
Zachary Linnick, Libertarian: 255
