By KIMBERLY LINEGER

I would like to thank everyone again for their support during the recent election. It has meant a great deal to me to work with so many talented and wonderful people.

Last week, at the request of a number of constituents, I attempted to obtain a ballot account for the local election for trustees and the referendum for four trustees.

The ballot account details the number of voters and ballots issued, rejected ballots and/or re-issued ballots and the number of ballots counted at each poll. This information is used to reconcile the votes cast at each polling station for each of the candidates as well as the referendum question.

Without this information, a final declaration of the election outcome cannot be made under s.135 of the Local Government Act. This information should be recorded on the Ballot Account Summary Sheet by the local returning officer at the close of the polls.

Following the Sunday service in church this week, after giving a homily on “The Ethical Life,” I was told that if I knew something was wrong with the election results, I had a duty to myself and the public to fix it, if it was within my power to do so.

For me, obtaining a copy of the ballot account is an issue of transparency and accountability of the election process. Election results should be available to voters in a timely and accurate fashion to make certain the election process was fair and accountable. Given my inability to obtain the necessary ballot accounts for each of the polls, I could not reassure constituents that the election results were obtained in a fair, transparent and accountable process.

It is not every day that you look a judicial recount of the local election ballots in the eye and decide not to proceed because it is not in the best interest of the local taxpayers.

On Monday, I met with Thomas Moore, chief electoral officer, and Carmen Thiel, deputy electoral officer, who were reviewing the election materials to determine the ballot accounts for each poll. No ballot accounts were completed (or if they were, we could not find them) by the Salt Spring returning officer at the close of polls on Saturday, Nov. 15 as required under the Local Government Act. Failure to do so is reason for a judicial recount. 

To the best of our ability we completed the ballot account. Ballot boxes for each poll were sampled but not verified by a manual recount of all the ballots. 

That numbers were not verified by a manual recount is grounds for a judicial recount as well.

My main reason for applying to the Provincial Court for a judicial recount was part C of s.138 of the Local Government Act. With no ballot account, the election could not truly be declared under s.135 because the declaration by the chief elections officer is based on ballot account information.

An affidavit attesting to this was prepared if I decided to proceed with a judicial recount. The main purpose of a judicial recount is for a court to verify the ballot account or a portion thereof relating to the election of a candidate. In this case, it is unlikely that the election results would change. There were only seven ballots that were not counted. This would not change the outcome of the election in any real or meaningful way.

Verification of the ballot account was done to the best of our ability and it is unlikely to be grossly wrong based on our review of election materials. However, the election officers need to be held accountable for their failure to comply with the required procedures. A judicial recount of the ballots is not required for this to take place. A recount costs thousands of dollars and this cost is almost always paid for by the local government, in this case the CRD. I did not feel tax dollars should be spent on a judicial recount when the election results are unlikely to change and accountability issues can be dealt with through another venue.

I thank those community members who assisted me during this process. I will continue to pursue the accountability issues that arose until I am satisfied that all measures have been taken to correct the situation so that it cannot happen again.

The writer ran for Islands Trust in the recent election.