The two closest races in the recent snap provincial election look to be heading for a recount after official results from Elections Ontario confirmed they were both won by fewer than 25 votes.
The ridings of Mississauga—Erin Mills and Mushkegowuk—James Bay were won by the Progressive Conservatives and Ontario NDP by razor-thin margins in the province’s Feb. 27 election.
Progressive Conservative Sheref Sebawy beat out his Liberal riding in Mississauga by 20 votes, according to Elections Ontario. Guy Bourgouin, the NDP candidate in James Bay, won by an even smaller margin of six votes.
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Under the Election Act, the returning officers in both districts must apply to a court for an official, manual recount of the results to take place.
A judge can deny the application for a recount but if they accept it Ontario’s chief electoral officer, the returning officer, the election clerk and each candidate in the district will all be notified.
A recount would then take place within 10 days of the decision. That would be supervised by a judge with all candidates who choose allowed to be present.
At the recount, all sealed envelopes containing ballots can be opened and counted by hand. tabulator ballots can also be examined again and counted by hand.
After that, the judge would certify the recount and the returning officer would declare the candidate with the most ballots to be elected in that riding.
Elections Ontario refused to be drawn on whether or not it expected a judge to grant a recount.
“We await the court’s rulings on both recounts and will take appropriate steps once they are issued,” said a spokesperson in response to questions from Global News.
