Whitehorse Daily Star

Election results will stand

Following the recount of ballots in two of Yukon's territorial election ridings there will be no change in the final outcome of the Oct. 10 vote, says Jo-Ann Waugh, the assistant chief electoral officer.

By Whitehorse Star on October 16, 2006

Following the recount of ballots in two of Yukon's territorial election ridings there will be no change in the final outcome of the Oct. 10 vote, says Jo-Ann Waugh, the assistant chief electoral officer.

'There's no changes to the numbers that we've determined,' Waugh said of Friday's recount.

Both McIntyre-Takhini and Porter Creek South had results so close they were forced to go to recount.

Whenever the winning margin is 10 or fewer votes a recount is mandatory.

Liberal Don Inverarity won the riding of Porter Creek South over Yukon Party candidate Dean Hassard by a margin of six votes.

The recount found the results to be true, leaving the riding with the votes split with 304 votes for Inverarity with 304, 298 for Hassard and 97 for NDP candidate Samson Hartland

In McIntyre-Takhini, the recount found the initial results had a two vote error.

The change was initially reported on Wednesday.

It showed that there had been an error in the count of the number of people who had voted - two less than the original count. But, it did not affect the distribution of the ballots nor the outcome in the riding, which John Edzerza won.

Edzerza, a former Yukon Party cabinet minister, ran under the NDP banner in the election and won 334 votes.

The initial count had shown Edzerza at having 336 votes. The results of the other two candidates remained the same, leaving Liberal Ed Schultz at 328 votes and Yukon Party candidate Vicki Durrant with 201.

The official results of the territorial election were released this morning at 10 a.m.

The release occurred at the same time Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie and his newly reelected caucus entered their first caucus meeting since the election.

The Yukon Party won a majority government, taking 10 seats in the 18-seat legislative assembly. The Liberals took five seats and the NDP took three.

It is the first time a party has been reelected to serve a second mandate since 1989.

Be the first to comment

Add your comments or reply via Twitter @whitehorsestar

In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.

Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.