One-vote victory challenged in Yellowhead election

A mayoral candidate in Yellowhead Municipality has challenged the results of last week’s civic election after losing by one vote.

Jim Garlick, who ran for the top position, filed an application for a judicial recount on Wednesday at the Court of King’s Bench in Brandon.

In an interview with the Sun, he said his main concern lies in the fact that 13 ballots were marked spoiled in such a close race with incumbent mayor Merv Starzyk.

“That’s really an indication to me there could be something missed, either for him or for me,” Garlick said. “Because some of those ballots could have been for me, could have been for the other person, there’s an unknown there. And just because one person or two people see that it’s spoiled, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s spoiled.”

An outside review of the ballots may lead to some being deemed usable, and that could change the result of the election, Garlick said.

Garlick ran in a three-person race against Starzyk and Chantelle Shwaluk. Garlick received 375 votes to Starzyk’s 376, while Shwaluk received 157. Yellowhead Municipality is 79 kilometres northwest of Brandon, and encompasses Shoal Lake and Strathclair.

Garlick said he was surprised to learn that a double-count had not been initiated by the elections team in Yellowhead after concluding a victory on a margin of one vote.

“Myself and probably 99 per cent of other people, in any other industry or working anywhere, if something was that close and you had spoiled ballots, would you not trigger a recount yourself?”

Garlick said he has been urged by supporters to push for a recount.

“I’ve probably got 15 phone calls for sure, probably a dozen texts and messages.”

Kirsty Jones, senior election official for Yellowhead, told the Sun that the law prevents a recount from being initiated.

“We can’t recount for a one-count difference,” she said. “We can for a tied count, but not one.”

Jones added that she reached out and confirmed that this was correct with the provincial government. She said the policy is set out in the Municipal Councils and School Boards Elections Act.

“I was just following the actual law, and I also talked to municipal services and the provincial government twice to double check that I was not able to do that.”

Jones said she was happy to learn that a recount had been requested in court.

“I’m glad,” Jones said. “There’s been some unrest around, and this will put it to bed, right? Like, there’s a chance there could have been human error. I have no doubt, after a 16, 17-hour day.”

Nobody objected to the vote count during the live election on Wednesday night, which could trigger a recount, she said.

“There was nobody at the voting stations at the time of the count, so nobody objected to any ballot or anything,” she said. “That would be cause to recount.”

The policy is different in provincial elections — which mandate a recount if the margin of victory is fewer than 50 votes, she said.

Starzyk said he understands why Garlick may have doubts about the result.

“I can see why the other candidate would request a recount,” Starzyk said Wednesday. “It was a surprise that it was so close.”

He added that, while it was close, he is confident in the elections team.

“I put the trust in the people that worked the polls and the senior elections officer. I’m sure that they had the good judgment of saying whether the ballot was spoiled or not.”

Garlick said it is unknown how long it will take for the application for a judicial recount to move forward.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com