Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Justice Garrett Handrigan’s report into the recent judicial recount shows that approximately half of the more than 1,000 disputed ballots in the recent federal election in Terra Nova-The Peninsulas were rejected because voters marked their ‘x’ next to the candidate’s name, and not in the designated circle.

The judicial recount was triggered by a margin of victory that was within one-one thousandth of the number of votes cast.

An initial recount determined that Liberal Anthony Germain had won the riding by just 12 votes, but once the judicial recount was completed, the victory went to Conservative Jonathan Rowe by the same number of votes.

Justice Handrigan says the candidates disputed 1,041 ballots, many of which were marked in the same rectangular line next to the candidate’s name, but not in the designated circle.

Germain’s counsel suggested that Handrigan had the discretion to accept ballots that were marked outside the circle on the ballot, however, Handrigan sided with Section 284 (1) (b) of the Canada Elections Act which states that the election officer “shall reject” a ballot that “has not been marked in a circle at the right of the candidates’ names.”

As a result, as many as half of the disputed ballots were rejected based on that alone, something Germain’s counsel argued left many voters disenfranchised.