A judicial recount of the District 9 municipal election result has confirmed Shaw Cleary as the winner.
The recount was called for by defeated incumbent Linda Mosher who lost to Cleary by 106 votes in the official election results. However Tuesday’s recount, boosted his win to a 107-vote margin of victory.
Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Joshua Arnold oversaw the recount which took several hours.
Arnold determined there were 3,741 votes for Cleary, 3,634 votes for Mosher, and 203 votes for Kyle Woodbury.
Following the Oct. 15 election, official results showed Cleary winning with 3,740 votes, 3,634 for Mosher and 203 for Woodbury. The number of rejected ballots went up to 51, from 48 ballots. Municipal Clerk and Returning Officer Kevin Arjoon said the additional four ballots in the recount amount to human error in the ballot-counting process.
Mosher wasn’t present for the recount but released a statement saying she is “satisfied with the independent conclusion” reached by Arnold.
A recount last week confirmed another incumbent councillor was unseated in the District 14 election. Incumbent Brad Johns lost to candidate Lisa Blackburn by 47 votes. A third recount will be held Tuesday for District 10 where incumbent Russell Walker defeated candidate Andrew Curran by 35 votes.
The swearing-in ceremony for the new council is set for Tuesday at 6 p.m.