Thursday, March 28, 2024

Saanich council candidate denied a recount after narrow loss during election

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Rishi Sharma was a candidate in the recent municipal election who did not win a seat on Saanich’s council after falling short of 11 votes.

Following the October 15th municipal election, Sharma sought a recount given the narrow loss given the number of ballots cast—which was nearly 28,000.

To get a recount Sharma had to hire a lawyer to bring his case before a provincial court and make a case for some margin of error in the ballot casting system used by Saanich. 

Teale Phelps Bondaroff, the city councillor who won his seat by just 11 votes over Sharma hired a lawyer of his own to fight the bid for a recount. 

Related:

Saanich council candidate requests recount after losing by 11 votes

On Tuesday morning at around 9:30 a.m. Sharma’s case was heard before a judge and the provincial court ultimately decided that a judicial recount is not required.

Phelps Bondaroff will keep his seat, as will all other newly elected councillors and the new mayor of Saanich, Dean Murdock.

“The District of Saanich would like to thank all candidates for their participation and officially congratulate our new mayor and council as they embark on this next term,” said Chief Election Officer Angila Bains.

Here are the results from the Saanich election:

Mayor:

  • Dean Murdock – 13,631

Councillors:

  • Colin Plant – 16,324
  • Susan Brice – 15,355
  • Zac de Vries – 14,274
  • Judy Brownoff – 11,845
  • Mena Westhaver – 11,459
  • Nathalie Chambers – 10,633
  • Karen Harper – 10,436
  • Teale Phelps Bondaroff – 9,218

A total of 27,975 votes were cast on election day, representing 31.2% of Saanich’s eligible voters.

The new mayor and councillors will be sworn in at the inaugural council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, November 7th.

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Curtis Blandy
curtis@victoriabuzz.com

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