A recount will be held in one of the three districts challenged by defeated Liberal candidates in the recent provincial election.
In his ruling, Justice Fonse Faour was quick to note the irony of the district with the widest margin of victory, Topsail-Paradise, being the only one of the three to make the cut.
One-hundred-and-two votes separate PC MHA-elect Paul Dinn and Liberal Dan Bobbett, compared to the 64 votes in Placentia West-Bellevue and just 18 in Lewisporte-Twillingate.
Dan Bobbett, Derek Bennett and Brian Keating in court (VOCM News)
But while alleged improper ballots were seen first-hand for Topsail-Paradise, that wasn’t the case in the others, where inconsistences were only noted with random special ballots for other districts, and Faour declining to infer that also applied to the ones in question.
The results confirm wins for PCs Mark Butt and Jeff Dwyer, but the recount could still flip the current PC government from majority to minority.
The recount is expected to start Tuesday morning at Supreme Court, and last two or three days.
Former House Speaker Derek Bennett, meanwhile, accepted his slim loss in Lewisporte-Twillingate with grace, but didn’t rule out another run down the road.
“I haven’t destroyed my signs yet, but we’ll see.”
PC candidates Jeff Dwyer (left) and Mark Butt (VOCM News)
Government responds
The PC government says it is pleased with today’s outcome and looks forward to Mark Butt and Jeff Dwyer being sworn-in as soon as possible “so they can begin to represent their constituents.”
The provincial government says it is also optimistic that once the judicial recount in Topsail-Paradise is complete, it can have all its caucus sworn-in and “ready to go” for the next sitting of the House of Assembly.
Earlier story
There will be a judicial recount in the district of Topsail-Paradise.
Supreme Court Justice Fonse Faour denied requests for judicial recounts in two of three contested districts; Lewisporte-Twillingate where the margin of victory for PC Mark Butt over Liberal incumbent Derek Bennett was just 18 votes, and Placentia West-Bellevue where PC Incumbent Jeff Dwyer won by 64 ballots.
Surprising to some, Justice Faour accepted a judicial recount in Topsail-Paradise where the difference between PC incumbent Paul Dinn and Liberal Dan Bobbett was 102 votes.
VOCM News will have more details on this developing story.
