After a discrepancy in the number of ballots cast at a Ward 14 polling station, city officials have determined the mistake was a technical error.
Returning officer Barbara Clifford called the ward’s aldermanic candidates together yesterday to explain what happened.
“One of the things that we did find in that check was that at one voting station, the total number of votes reported as being cast was 142 more than we had actually issued,” said Clifford. “They had incorrectly counted the total number of votes cast.”
The recount showed there were 1981 valid votes cast, with 10 rejected ballots. In total, 2000 ballots were issued to the Prince of Wales Elementary School voting station.
Candidate Shawn Kao, who came in third out of six candidates, said he was satisfied with the recount.
“I think the democratic process has been respected here,” he said, adding that he gained a few votes from the initial count.
Kao said a pile of 90 votes for him was initially counted as 50.
The results of the Ward 14 election remain the same with Peter Demong elected as the new alderman.
