5 N.B. election races decided by fewer than 100 votes
Saint John East sees closest margin with Liberal Gary Keating managing 8-vote win
In a New Brunswick election marred by questions about automatic vote-counting technology that delayed full results until well after midnight, a review of results from Elections New Brunswick shows five ridings were decided by fewer than 100 votes.
The closest result was in Saint John East, where Elections NB shows Liberal Gary Keating posting an eight-vote win over incumbent Progressive Conservative Glen Savoie.
- Full results on our election night dashboard
- Liberals elected amid vote-counting 'fiasco'
- Read our election night chat here
People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin was involved in the second-closest race, finishing 26 votes behind incumbent Tory Pam Lynch in Fredericton-Grand Lake.
The third-closest result was in Shippagan-Lamèque-Miscou, where Progressive Conservative deputy premier Paul Robichaud finished 44 votes behind Liberal Wilfred Roussel in the tally posed by Elections NB.
Saint John Harbour was a tight race for the second election in a row, with Liberal Ed Doherty edging PC Carl Killen by 71 votes. Those same two candidates went head-to-head in 2010 and it proved to be the closest race in that election, with Killen defeating Doherty by seven votes.
Carleton-Victoria was the other riding decided by fewer than 100 votes, with Liberal Andrew Harvey finishing 83 ballots ahead of Tory Colin Lockhart.
It isn't clear how many of those races may see a recount.
But Progressive Conservative Party president Jason Stephen indicated Monday night the Tories want all ballots counted by hand, given the difficulty Elections NB had in arriving at a final tally with its vote tabulators.
"We're calling on Elections New Brunswick to count every vote by hand," Stephen said.
"Regrettably, it's best to make sure all votes are counted properly, and at that time we will accept the outcome of the election from the New Brunswick population."