Communities First candidate Sonya Sharp has announced she will be requesting a recount of the ballots cast in the Oct. 20 Calgary mayoral election, after the unofficial results show her losing by 584 votes to former city councillor Jeromy Farkas.

In a statement emailed to the media on Tuesday, Sharp said, “given the the margin of victory for Mr. Farkas is only 585 votes or 0.16 per cent, I believe it is appropriate to request the Chief Returning Officer undertake a recount of the ballots to ensure the accuracy of the election outcome.”

Citing the long lines experienced by many voters and new procedures put in place as a result of new provincial legislation that required hand-counting of ballots well into the early hours of Tuesday morning, Sharp suggests in her statement that “mistakes can occur during stressful situations.”

While she insists she is not criticizing the hard work of election workers, she said, “given the razor-thin margin of victory in this election, it makes ample sense to review and double-check that appropriate processes were followed, and the count is accurate.”

According to Elections Calgary, there are several types of recounts that can take place.

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If a candidate, their official agent or a scrutineer can provide reasonable grounds to convince the returning officer to order a recount, such as allegations that the result may be inaccurate because of a large number of rejected ballots that could have affected the outcome of the election, then they can apply for a recount within 44 hours of the close of voting.

If the margin of victory at a particular voting station is within half of one percentage point, the candidate with the second-highest number of votes, or the official agent for that candidate, can request a recount.

The application for such a recount is voting station-specific, not city-wide, and must be made within 72 hours of when the official results are announced.

A judicial recount may also be requested at anytime within 19 days of the close of voting if the elector files an affidavit with the court alleging, on reasonable grounds, that the returning officer or other officer presiding at the voting station improperly counted or rejected ballots.

A copy of the affidavit must be served on the returning officer and all candidates in the affected contest and the elector must also provide a $300 deposit to the court to cover the costs and expenses of such a recount.

All judicial recounts are required to be overseen by the government of Alberta.

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