A northeastern Ontario riding could be headed for a vote recount, following close provincial election results
Only four votes separate NDP incumbent from PC candidate
A northeastern Ontario electoral riding could be headed for a vote recount, following last week's provincial election.
When polls closed on Feb. 27 in Mushkegowuk-James Bay, NDP MPP incumbent Guy Bourgouin had a four-vote lead over Progressive Conservative candidate Dave Plourde.
Elections Ontario said it is still tabulating official results from the election. Once tabulations are complete, official results will give the total number of marked, declined, unmarked, and rejected ballots for each poll.
Under the Election Act, once votes are officially tabulated, if there is a margin of victory of less than 25 votes, as is currently the case in Mushkegowuk-James Bay, the returning officer for the district will be required to apply for a recount.
Plourde, who is also the mayor of Kapuskasing, is calling for a recount and said he's hopeful the outcome will go in his favour.
"We're just anxiously awaiting and we're hopeful that, you know, we're able to see positive results. And I'm optimistic," said Plourde.
"I think there's definitely an opportunity here that we could see a change in the results as they were received on election night."
He said the riding has been held by the NDP for many years, but he believes the close results at the polls shows that people in the far northern Ontario riding want to see change and that it shows promise for the Conservatives going forward.
Elections Ontario said it will await the completion of the official tabulation process before determining next steps, including whether to issue a recount.
If a recount were to go ahead, it could be a few weeks before an official result is known.
Bourgouin, who has been the MPP for Mushkegowuk-James Bay since 2017, has said he is not commenting on the results until they are official.