By Brian Lawrence
Following a judicial recount on Nov. 2, Joanna Wilson has been re-elected to a fifth term on Creston town council, moving five votes past Jim Karountzos, who initially won a seat in the Oct. 20 municipal election.
In the initial council vote, Wilson placed seventh with 979 votes, eight behind Karountzos’s 987. Twelve votes were added to her total in the recount, with none added to or taken from Karountzos, the only council candidate whose total stayed the same.
“I couldn’t be happier to be rejoining the council another term, after a surprise conclusion of a judicial recount,” said Wilson. “Now I have a chance to be part, once again, of a council with momentum in a forward direction, and to be still working for the citizens of the Town of Creston.”
Approved by Judge Lynal Doerksen in Creston Law Courts on Oct. 31, the recount began at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 2 in the council chambers, overseen by Creston chief elections officer Stacey Hadley, assisted by Donna Cassel and Marsha Neufeld. The council results were announced an exhausting 11 hours later.
“Without a doubt, it was worth it, just to ensure the integrity of the election process,” said Hadley.
Just after 4:30 p.m., with Wilson, councillor-elect Ellen Tzakis, council candidates Dallas Magrum and Debbie Cherkas, and mayor candidate Bill Hutchinson present, along with their representatives and scrutineers, Doerksen announced the final results of the mayoral election. That race retained its original outcome, with Ron Toyota remaining Creston’s mayor for a fourth term with 970 votes (two less than Oct. 20), followed by Hutchinson with 912 (five more) and Mary Jayne Blackmore with 355 (unchanged).
At the same time, Doerksen also announced the recounted results of the fire hall borrowing referendum, which added three yes votes for a total of 1,301 and also added 11 no votes for a total of 885.
He declared few ballots to be spoiled, with only four each for the council election and referendum going uncounted. No ballots for mayor were spoiled.
With the council race, all totals other than Karountzos’s changed by at least two votes. The final totals for the successful councillors to be inaugurated Nov. 6 are: Arnold DeBoon, 1,278 (originally 1,267); Tzakis, 1,213 (1,204); Jen Comer, 1,201 (1,191); Jim Elford 1,199 (1,190); Karen Unruh 1,124 (1,120); and Wilson, 992 (979). The unsuccessful candidates’ totals were: Jim Karountzos, 987 (unchanged); Karen Goforth, 898 (originally 900); Trish Drinkle, 879 (881); Cherkas, 785 (786); and Magrum, 606 (609).
Hadley applied for the recount “due to the closeness of the ballot count,” as stated in an Oct. 29 news release, and to confirm that ballots were correctly accepted or rejected.
“In order to maintain the integrity of the election process and to confirm the ballot counting process, I felt it was important to go through this process,” she said on Oct. 31, after Doerksen approved the recount.
After Hadley made her presentation to the judge on Oct. 31, Hutchinson expressed concern about the registration process. He told that judge that 700 registrations were added to the approximately 4,400 on the list for the December 2017 fire hall borrowing referendum, and 350 more signed up for the Oct. 20 election.
“That tells me over 5,500 people live in Creston, and nobody under the age of 18,” he told Doerksen.
“I would strongly suggest legal counsel, because this may not be the court for that,” Doerksen responded.
Tzakis supported Hutchinson’s concerns, and further told the judge that totals don’t add up — 2,245 voters cast ballots, but only 2,234 votes were counted between the three mayoral candidates.
“This court is not dealing with an imbalance,” said Doerksen.
He scheduled all of the ballots cast — for mayor, council and the fire hall borrowing referendum — to be counted by hand on Nov. 2, the last day provincial election law allowed for a recount. Entitled to attend were the chief election officer, the candidates in the election and the official agents or counsel of the candidates.
“I feel it will give some much-needed peace of mind to the Creston Valley,” said Hadley.
