"Blind Draw" Will Decide Peachland Town Hall Race

It will probably not be a hat, but rather a box.

The choice of the mayor of Peachland will be decided by draw after the civic election on Saturday. That night, five people were fighting over the mayor's post. Cindy Fortin, the incumbent, and his rival, Harry Gough, were the first to equalize with 804 votes each.

Originally, the first count allowed Gough to win with 804 votes against 803 for Fortin. A recount, however, leveled the score.

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According to a Peachland District press release, "On polling day, a voting machine mis-fed a ballot, which caused the voting machine to be blocked. The machine prompted the election official who was presiding to reinsert the ballot, but before the official could do so, the malnourished ballot landed in the sealed ballot box. This was immediately reported to the Chief Electoral Officer, who took note of it.

"No other problem has been encountered with voting machines. Preliminary results were announced Saturday night and Monday, the Chief Electoral Officer conducted a verification of the mayor's race. This was done because of the proximity of the results – only one vote separated the two best candidates for mayor. The verification process was attended by the two main candidates for mayor and / or their representatives. The process of verifying and counting the ballots concluded that there is a tie for the mayor's position.

"The Chief Electoral Officer will request a judicial recount of the Mayor's ballot, in accordance with sections 146 and 148 of the Local Government Act, to determine the results. The recount must be held within 13 days of the general election. If the tie is confirmed, the winner must be chosen by lot, in accordance with District Rules of Procedure No. 2235, which is enforced by provincial courts. "

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According to Peachland By-law No. 2235, in the event of a tie after a judicial recount, the tie vote will be resolved by proceeding in accordance with the provisions of section 151 of the Local Government Act, rather than By proceeding by election.

Here is Article 151 of the Local Government Act:

Determination of results by lottery if egalitarian vote after judicial recount

1. A local authority may, by by-law, provide that, if at the end of a recount, the results of the election can not be declared because of the equality of votes expressing the validity of the votes valid for two or more candidates, the results are determined by lot in accordance with the vote. with this article rather than by choice under section 152.
2. If a by-law under subsection (1) applies and there is a tie, as described in that subsection, the results of the election shall be determined at the end judicial recount, by lot among these candidates, in accordance with the following provisions:

• The name of each candidate must be written on a separate sheet of paper, as similar as possible to all other documents prepared for the determination;
• The pieces of paper should be folded uniformly so that the names of the candidates are not visible;
• The pieces of paper must be placed in a container large enough to be shaken in order to make their distribution random, and the container must be shaken for this purpose;
• The court orders a person who is neither a candidate nor a representative of a candidate to withdraw a document;
• The court must declare elected the candidate whose name appears on the drawn paper.

Peachland District has not announced when the draw will take place.