Elections Canada orders recounts for B.C., Québec ridings

Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault has ordered judicial recounts for three ridings, beginning this morning with an announcement for one in Port Moody–Coquitlam (British Columbia), where NDP candidate Bonita Zarrillo lost to Conservative candidate Nelly Shin by just 153 votes.

Under Elections Canada rules, automatic recounts are triggered when the winning candidate’s margin of victory equals 0.1 percent or less of the total votes cast.

In the case of Zarillo, who went to the B.C. courts to solicit a recount, the margin of separation between her and Shin was 0.2 percent of total ballots cast.

If the margin of victory is not 0.1 percent or less of total votes, candidates or voters can seek a recount by filing an affidavit before a judge. If the judge accepts the request, a recount must occur within four days.

Both court-ordered and Elections Canada recounts are considered “judicial.”

In La Belle Province, a pair of Bloc Québecois candidates have also gone to court to request recounts.

And according to Elections Canada, a judicial recount will also occur for the Hochelaga riding where Liberal candidate Soraya Martinez Ferrada beat Bloc challenger Simon Marchand by 328 votes, or 0.6 percent of total ballots cast.

A similar situation exists in the riding of Quebec, where Bloc candidate Christiane Gagnon has sought a judicial recount after losing to Liberal candidate Jean-Yves Duclos by just 325 votes.

Late this afternoon, Elections Canada announced third recount; this one for the disputed Quebec riding.