Municipal election results for West Kent (Ward 1) have been challenged and will have to go before the Superior Court of Justice.
The application to challenge the results only applies to Ward 1 and does not challenge the results in any other wards or the mayoral position, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent said in a press release.
The official results from the municipal election show that Mark Authier and Melissa Harrigan got the most votes, with Authier receiving 1,991 votes and Harrigan getting 1,682. Candidates for Ward 1 who were unsuccessful included Bryon Fluker with 1,050 votes, Mark Pastorius with 252 votes, and Jordan Dell with 88 votes.
Authier and Harrigan both claim that Robert Powers, a former unsuccessful mayoral candidate filed the application to challenge the results.
"We were informed that it was actually one of the mayoral candidates, Mr. Powers who was filing the claim," said Harrigan. "I'm not really sure the reasons why so I was a bit surprised. Just given the election results, there wasn't really anything too contentious or anything that would really prompt someone to file a claim. Everyone is certainly within their right to do that and we are respectful of that process."
Authier said the complaint doesn't have to do with the candidates themselves but rather where the ballots were cast.
"[Powers] is questioning some of the ballots, they didn't say which location they came from... which apparently it doesn't have to be on there, it just happens to be something that's good for the candidates to find out where they were strong or where they were weak," said Authier.
Results of the municipal election were confirmed October 24 by Judy Smith, the chief returning officer and clerk.
"We are a bit concerned about the time and resources this could spend on the municipality because it would be taxpayer dollars that would have to fund any sort of court presence or work that's taking place," said Harrigan. "Overall, it's about the openness and fairness of the election process and we're really confident that the municipal clerk followed all the rules and regulations in the municipal election."
John Norton, chief legal officer and general manager of community development, said the municipality will take directions given by the court. However, the municipality will not have any further comment on the matter.
BlackburnNews.com did reach out to Powers for comment but has not heard back.
The application to challenge will go to court on January 2.
The municipality will continue with the inaugural ceremony for the incoming council members at the John D. Bradley Convention Centre on December 3.