There is something almost poetic – and definitively just – in Grant Meyer's byelection victory in the City of White Rock Saturday.

Not only was Meyer next-in-line in the long list of candidates following the six winning councillors in the November election, he was also the lone byelection candidate targeted in the infamous pre-election email propagated by disgraced veteran politician James Coleridge.

Coleridge's adversary effectively became his successor.

Ironically, had defence counsel won the argument – made prior to the B.C. Supreme Court decision unseating Coleridge – on who would stand should Coleridge fall, Meyer would have been victorious anyway.

It seems that although Coleridge opposed the election of Meyer months earlier for the good of White Rock, he would have sooner had Meyer anointed by a judge than shell out money for a byelection. In the end, Coleridge is still on the hook for $20,000 in byelection costs, with taxpayers footing the rest of the bill.

It should be noted Meyer's win, with 705 votes, flies in the face of those who claim last year's sweep by all five councillors endorsed by Citizens for Positive Renewal – incumbent Mary-Wade Anderson was the only non-CPR victor – shows a united front against previous plans for large-scale development in the town centre. After all, Meyer had accepted three corporate donations, including $500 from Bosa Properties, in his 2008 campaign.

While Meyer's opponents might be right to claim the combination of a poor voter turnout (16 per cent) and a splitting of votes with eight candidates contributed to his success, it would be wrong to dismiss the low numbers as anything more than voter malaise. One could argue that after last fall's federal and municipal elections and last spring's provincial vote, this is the fourth time in less than a year that White Rock residents were invited to go to the polls.

With talk of another federal election in the offing, voters can be excused for having little appetite to listen to any more campaigning.

However, not voting simply accepts the will of the minority, allowing 705 individuals to cast your vote for you.

In fact, there is something deliciously poetic – almost definitively just – in all election results, especially when voters decide not to take notice.