1 box, 2 names: Random draw could decide election winner in tied Cape Breton district

Residents in a northern Cape Breton district are not happy with Nova Scotia's municipal election rules after Saturday's vote ended in a tie, say two candidates stuck in limbo.

Under the Municipal Elections Act, if a judicial recount is rejected or still results in a tie, the winner is drawn by lot.

Amy MacKinnon, who got the same number of votes as Wanda Hennick in Victoria County's District 8, said constituents are telling her they want another opportunity to cast a ballot.

"I think the concerns that both Wanda and I are hearing throughout the community is that District 8 deserves a run-off between both Wanda and I, so that everybody's votes are considered and it's the fairest process that could happen," MacKinnon said.

Hennick said if a winner is picked at random, residents are saying they will feel as if their vote didn't count.

"If it comes down to that, I think it's going to discourage the residents of District 8 to vote, and we don't want that to happen," she said.

Returning officer cites the law

MacKinnon and Hennick each received 145 votes in District 8, which includes Dingwall, Aspy Bay and Bay St. Lawrence.

Patterson Gray-Rochon got 85, Ricky Buchanan picked up 36, and three ballots were spoiled.

Returning officer Blair Gallop told CBC Radio's Information Morning Cape Breton the law is clear. He has to apply for a judicial recount, but that could be a problem because all of the ballots in Victoria County were cast by phone or online.

"Normally, in a paper ballot situation, [a judge would] go through them all, but there isn't any in a fully electronic election, so in this particular case the only thing that we can count is the number of times that I can print the report to get the exact same numbers," Gallop said.

If a judge refuses a recount on that basis, or confirms the tie, the law requires Gallop to write two names on equal sized pieces of paper and have someone appointed by the clerk draw one name from a box.

On the Victoria County website, he said the names will be drawn from a hat, but later said the act specifically mentions a box, so that is what will be used.

Gallop has been involved in seven elections at the municipal, provincial and federal levels, including the last two as returning officer for Victoria County.

He said he's only aware of two ties in previous elections: one in Prince Edward Island, which was decided by a coin toss, and one in Ontario that resulted in a byelection.

"I'm sure there's a third case out there, but it's not something that occurs regularly," he said.

In 1999, Liberal MLA Clifford Huskilson lost his seat in Shelburne to PC candidate Cecil O'Donnell after a recount resulted in a tie and O'Donnell's name was drawn.

CBC Radio listener Pat Lewis of Catalone Gut sent Information Morning Cape Breton a copy of an article from the Cape Breton Post reporting that Harvey Lewis was elected mayor of Louisbourg in 1979 after his name was chosen from a top hat following a tie vote.

Gallop said there is no provision for a run-off or a byelection, either of which could actually hurt voters.

"The challenge with that is that we could find ourselves having no representative in the county for two, three, possibly four or five months."

Gallop said he will apply for a judicial recount by the end of the week and if the recount is rejected or the vote remains a tie, the draw will happen as soon as possible after that.

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