A third vote recount has been ordered in New Brunswick, following an incredibly tight election race last week that left the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives jockeying for power.
The votes cast in the riding of Oromocto-Lincoln-Fredericton, a seat the Tories won by 93 votes, will be recounted on Thursday.
READ MORE: Voting irregularities alleged in New Brunswick election, Tories seek court order
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Recounts are being held on Monday in Saint John Harbour and Memramcook-Tantramar, where Green candidate Megan Mitton defeated Liberal incumbent Bernard LeBlanc rival by just 11 votes.
David Coon, the leader of the Green Party, said on Tuesday that he is confident the results will stick.
“It’s also normal that they, they don’t result in any real shift in the final results,” said Coon.
“Maybe a ballot or two shifts but not enough to change the outcome.”
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A lawyer for Progressive Conservative candidate Barry Ogden has alleged that about 40 electors voted twice in the riding of Saint John Harbour.
Lawyer Matthew Letson says he’ll file a court application to have the results overturned if the recount confirms the original result that saw Liberal candidate Gerry Lowe cling to victory with a 10-vote margin.
Ogden was present for the recount. Lowe was represented but was not there in person as he is still working as a Saint John councillor.
“I mean I can’t do nothing at the count,” said Lowe.
“It is what it is.”
The recounts are expected to last for a couple of days.
WATCH: Two tight races in the New Brunswick election will be subject to recount on Wednesday
A shift of even a single seat could determine which party will gain control of the legislature.
The Tories, led by Blaine Higgs, won 22 seats in the 49-seat legislature last week – one more than the Liberals led by Premier Brian Gallant.
Neither party has enough seats for a majority, and both leaders have been trying to gain support from the third parties holding the balance of power, with the Greens and the right-leaning People’s Alliance each holding three seats.
With files from Andrew Cromwell
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