Windsor recount possible after Elections Canada recording errors

Article content

The chances of an election recount in Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore have escalated after the discovery of possible tabulation errors made a narrow Conservative victory even more razor thin.

Article content

Article content

Following Elections Canada’s standard validation of results, Conservative Kathy Borrelli’s lead over Liberal Irek Kusmierczyk shrunk from 233 votes to 77 — a mere seven ballots away from the threshold for an automatic judicial recount.

Article content

It’s unclear if Kusmierczyk, the riding’s Liberal MP since 2019, will request a recount. He could not be reached for comment prior to the Star’s print deadline on Friday.

But in such tight races, such recounts can be an important part of the political process, said University of Windsor political scientist Lydia Miljan.

“I think they are for legitimacy, especially for tight votes,” she told the Star. “And I think people’s emotions are pretty raw right now.

“So, ensuring that the count is the actual count and that mistakes weren’t made, I think does help assuage any concerns that people might have about the fairness of the count.”

Elections Canada’s preliminary results following Monday’s election had Borrelli at 31,901 votes and Kusmierczyk at 31,668.

But following the discovery of possible counting errors or wrongly excluded ballots during the validation of results, Borrelli now has 32,062 votes and Kusmierczyk is sitting at 31,985.

A judicial recount is automatically triggered when the difference between the two leading candidates is less than one one-thousandth of the total votes cast.

Article content

There were 70,010 valid votes cast in Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore, so the cutoff would be about 70 votes.

The rules state that Kusmierczyck would have four days from certification, which took place on Thursday, to request a recount.

Elections Canada told the Star that validation of results, a normal part of the process, typically takes place within a week following election day.

The returning officer compares information from each polling location in their riding to the preliminary results that were entered into the system on election night and posted at elections.ca.

It’s a way to catch and correct human error, which is usually a result of miscommunication.

On election night, the local Elections Canada officer receives results from each polling location by phone before entering them into the system.

Elections Canada spokesperson Diane Benson said staff at the Elections Canada office could mishear a result that was called in or make a mistake entering the data.

Article content

“In short, validation involves checking the official records from each individual polling station and correcting any errors made during the transmission of results on a busy election night,” Benson told the Star in an email.

The validation process can also catch other problems such as wrongly excluded ballots.

Members of the media and public are not allowed to witness the validation of results. But Benson said candidates or their representatives do watch the whole process, ensuring “added accountability.”

Once the results are validated, Benson said they are final — unless changes are made following a judicial recount or a contested election proceeding.

The split between Borrelli and Kusmierczyk is not the narrowest of the 2025 federal election.

The Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne changed hands on Thursday after Elections Canada published validated results for the region that showed the Bloc Quebecois nudged out the Liberals by 44 votes. Preliminary numbers published Tuesday for the riding had the Liberals ahead by 35 votes.

Article content

In the Newfoundland riding of Terra Nova-The Peninsulas, the winning Liberal candidate inched past the Conservative runner-up with 12 votes.

It was also a close race in Nunavut, where the NDP beat the Liberals by 77 votes.

There were several other ridings across Canada where the difference between winner and loser was just a few hundred votes.

It’s possible results for some ridings could still change following validation processes or judicial recounts. After the Terrebonne flip, the Liberals are still only four seats shy of the 172 needed in the House of Commons for a majority government.

“It looks like there might be about seven or eight that probably will go for a judicial recount or be eligible, because they’re within that .001 per cent margin of error difference,” said Miljan. “We saw the one yesterday flip from Liberal to Bloc.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Windsor-Tecumseh flipped after a validation.”

[email protected]

Article content