The Saint John Law Courts building. (Brad Perry/Wave News)
A judge has dismissed a motion to set aside the provincial election results in the riding of Saint John Harbour.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Hugh McLellan released his decision in the case Friday morning.
Liberal Gerry Lowe won the seat by 10 votes but Progressive Conservative candidate Barry Ogden wanted the judge to order a new election.
Ogden’s legal team alleged 71 instances of voting irregularities, which included voting by non-residents and people voting more than once.
But Lowe’s lawyers argued the alleged irregularities were minor clerical errors and any voter misconduct was not a failure to properly follow procedures.
While McLellan dismissed most of the allegations, he rejected eight ballots cast by people who did not live in Saint John Harbour. He also rejected a single vote of a person with health issues who was able to vote twice.
“In my opinion, the number of rejected votes ‘that may reasonably be said to produce a substantial effect’ on the election in Saint John Harbour would have to be a lot more than the 10-vote margin of victory,” McLellan wrote in his decision.
But McLellan said there is “no such suggestion in the evidence” that Lowe or his supporters did anything wrong.
Reaction To The Decision
In a statement, Lowe said he hopes Friday’s ruling will finally put the matter to rest.
“My priority since being sworn in last year has been to represent the interests of the people of my riding, and that will continue to be my priority moving forward,” said Lowe.
Ogden said in a statement the decision was not the outcome he was hoping for, but he was “happy we were able to shine the light on very serious problems with our voting system.”
“I believe as a result of this we will see improvements to our electoral system,” he said.
The chief electoral officer said Elections New Brunswick respects the ruling but will not comment on the specific findings.
“We must wait until the applicant to this application determines if they will pursue their right of appeal,” said Kim Poffenroth.
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