Recount granted for Oromocto-Lincoln-Fredericton

A third provincial electoral district will see a recount of ballots cast in the Sept. 24 election.

An application was submitted shortly before Tuesday's deadline by the Liberal candidate in Oromocto-Lincoln-Fredericton, said Elections New Brunswick spokesperson Paul Harpelle.

Justice Judy Clendening approved the application Wednesday morning, said Harpelle, and the recount is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Court of Queen's Bench in Fredericton.

According to the Sept. 24 election results, voters in Oromocto-Lincoln-Fredericton elected Progressive Conservative candidate Mary Wilson by a margin of 93 votes over her closest rival, Liberal John Fife.

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Fife said his application is based on a large discrepancy between the election results and the support he and other canvassers with his campaign were expecting from voters in Oromocto, near Base Gagetown.

"The outcome of that particular poll was sort of like a 180-degree of what we had anticipated," he said.

There are actually two polls in question, Fife clarified, numbered 12 and 13.

Different impression on doorsteps

Fife is a retired military colonel who still works on the base and said he had received a lot of positive feedback from the area.

"When you go door-to-door you meet people. A lot of times they tell you if they're going to vote for you or not. So we tracked really high numbers and we didn't get the outcome that we had anticipated," Fife said.

He said his campaign's tracking was "bang on" everywhere else in the riding.

"Because it was so close, we're just questioning, 'Could an error have been made?' a tabulation error or something like that."

Fife is also prepared for the possibility the result was accurate, despite what voters told him on doorsteps.

"Of course, people can change who they want to vote for right up until they enter the polling station," he said.

Could take several days

The newly elected Progressive Conservative MLA, Mary Wilson, said she would await the outcome of the recount before commenting.

The recount could take several days to complete.

That's because special ballots, which are mailed in from voters all over the province, are together in one ballot box, said Harpelle.

They are being used Wednesday for a recount in Saint John Harbour.

The special ballots will then have to be transported to court in Moncton for the Memramcook-Tantramar recount, before finally being available for the Oromocto-Lincoln-Fredericton recount.