BURST
After a recount, the NL district of Terra Nova-The Peninsulas goes to Conservative Jonathan Rowe.
Rowe, who originally lost the district, claimed victory over Liberal Anthony Germain on May 23 by 12 votes, 19,605 to 19,593.
That was the initial margin of victory Germain initially won by when the votes were counted on April 29. No winner could be declared on Election night, as the special ballots — the mail-in votes for the region — were not counted.
That slim finish triggered an automatic recount. That’s done if the difference between candidates “is less than one one-thousandth of the total votes cast,” according to Elections Canada.
What is a judicial recount?
According to Elections Canada, a judicial recount is a formal means of verifying the count of the votes cast for an electoral district. It is presided over by a Supreme Court judge who sits in the electoral district where the election results are validated.
In the case of Terra Nova-The Peninsulas — previously known as the district of Bonavista-Burin-Trinity and representing some 71,000 residents — that courtroom was in Marystown.
The judicial recount started on May 12 and took two weeks to complete. According to Elections Canada, the delay in finalizing the results from April 28 was because of water work being done in Marystown.
“Things were delayed as the water was shut off in Marystown this week so the town could replace its chlorination system. As a result, all public buildings were closed, so the recount team had to pause,” wrote a spokesperson in an email.
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How many ballots were counted?
During the recount, there were some 1,000 ballots in dispute.
Originally, Germain won the district with a razor-thin 12-vote margin when he finished with a total of 19,704 to Rowe’s 19,692.
Those numbers were reversed based on the recount.
The flip-flop means that NL will now be represented by three Conservative MPs in Ottawa: Rowe in Terra Nova-The Peninsulas, incumbent Clifford Small in Central Newfoundland, and Carol Anstey, who was elected in Long Range Mountains — a gain of two seats for the Conservatives.
Labrador’s Phillip Earle, Avalon’s Paul Connors, Cape Spear’s Tom Osborne and St. John’s East’s Joanne Thompson held the remaining seats for the Liberals.
What do the candidates have to say?
In a statement published on social media, Germain thanked “incredible volunteers, dedicated supporters and everyone across our community in Terra Nova-The Peninsulas.”
A message sent to Rowe’s campaign for a reaction to his victory wasn’t returned by deadline.