Brantford to conduct mayoral vote recount

The city has agreed to hold a recount of “certain” votes cast in the October 2022 mayoral race which resulted in Kevin Davis getting re-elected.

The recount, announced by the city on Friday, will involve those votes cast in person on election day and will take place before May 12.

Davis was re-elected mayor on Oct. 24 receiving 9,220 votes. Challenger Dave Wrobel finished second with 9,012 votes, a difference of 208 votes.

A day later, on Oct. 25, the city clerk and returning officer declared the election results official.

Following the election, Wrobel filed an application with the court requesting the court order a hand recount of the votes. The application named the City of Brantford as the defendant.

The city, in a statement issued Friday, said it had agreed to a recount.

“In order to avoid a lengthy and expensive tax-funded legal process, a resolution has been achieved by both parties (the city and Wrobel) that has now been confirmed by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice,” the city said in its statement.

The resolution was confirmed by the court on April 12, the city said.

The agreement calls for a recount of “certain ballots” cast in the municipal election for the position of mayor. The certain ballots refers to those cast in person on Oct. 24, the day of the municipal election. The recount will be done by hand.

The recount must take place within 30 days of the court’s confirmation of the agreement or by May 12.

The clerk’s department will set the date of the recount and oversee all aspects of the process to ensure it follows provincial legislative requirements, city officials said in their prepared statement.

“The city has full confidence that a free and fair election was conducted in October 2022 and that the recount will yield the same results,” city officials said in their statement. “Additional details regarding the recount process will be shared once the date is confirmed.”

Davis declined to comment.

Wrobel, after doing a quick review of the city’s statement, said he’d issue a formal statement later on Friday.

However, Wrobel took issue with the city’s suggestion that they agreed to a recount to save taxpayers’ money.

count. Richard Carpenter brought forward a notice of motion to council last November which would have ordered a recount.

Wrobel said if council had agreed to a recount back in November 2022, he wouldn’t have had to take the matter to court.

But Carpenter’s notice of motion wasn’t even discussed by councilors because it failed to receive support from at least two-thirds of councilors to ‘waive the rules’ in order for it to be heard.

The motion to waive the rules was lost on a tie vote.

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