Bourque seeks judicial recount
Demand rejected. Upheaval grows over glitches in vote tally
  
ANDY RIGA 
The Gazette 

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

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CREDIT: GORDON BECK. THE GAZETTE 
"I'm satisfied with the reliability of the results," Jacqueline Leduc, chief returning officer for Montreal, said yesterday. She denied claims Vision Montreal workers were ejected from polling stations. 
 

 

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Florida had its hanging chads. In Montreal, Sunday's election will go down in history for its crashing computers, delayed results and post-vote turmoil.

Yesterday, the controversy surrounding the city's electronic vote-counting system took a new twist when failed mayoral candidate Pierre Bourque claimed that 45,000 ballots "disappeared," tabulating machines rejected too many ballots and election workers illegally ejected his volunteers from voting stations when polls closed on Sunday.

Montreal's new technology, provided by the company PG Elections, was already being blamed for long delays in posting results Sunday night, and for failing to keep candidates informed about which electors had voted. In some cases, PG's vote-counting machines broke down.

Yesterday, Bourque demanded Quebec Municipal Affairs Minister Nathalie Normandeau order a full judicial recount - a new tallying of all the ballots cast, this time by hand and in front of a judge and party representatives.

Such a recount would be unprecedented. Normandeau rejected the suggestion. Bourque may now ask a court to order a full recount, his spokesperson said.

Bourque told reporters he doesn't expect such a recount to reverse his massive loss, but said that in 20 to 25 districts, recounts could decide who becomes local councillor.

"I lost and I recognize that," he said. "My intention is to shed light on the multiple deficiencies and irregularities. It's sad for democracy, sad for Montreal."

Bourque's comments came as it emerged that Montreal election officials issued incorrect election results early Monday. A corrected version was quietly issued 18 hours later.

Winners changed in two of 105 city and borough council posts. A city council seat originally given to Mayor Gerald Tremblay's party goes to Bourque's. And a borough council seat initially given to Projet Montreal instead goes to Tremblay's party.

The latest results also indicate that voter turnout was even lower than originally thought.

Only 35 per cent of voters cast ballots, not the 39 per cent initially reported by the election office.

But Montreal's returning officer, Jacqueline Leduc, who oversaw the election and hired PG Elections to run it, dismissed Bourque's complaints, saying he got his facts wrong.

"I'm satisfied with the reliability of the results," Leduc told reporters, adding she would use the system again if the snag that caused Sunday's snafu was fixed.

The snag involved a transmission line PG set up to get results from polling stations to a central computer, she said.

When that line jammed, Montreal election officials called in results by phone from 75 polling stations, with PG technicians entering the data into a computer by hand, Leduc said.

On Monday, election workers retrieved the results from the ballot-voting machines, discovering 45,000 votes had been counted twice.

That explains the changes in the results and the turnout rate, Leduc said, insisting 45,000 ballots did not disappear.

As for spoiled ballots, Leduc said that the rejection rate is in line with the previous election.

For votes for councillors, the rejection rate was 5.6 per cent, below the 2001 rate of 7.7 per cent. In the mayoral vote, 3.2 per cent of ballots were spoiled, compared with 2.5 per cent in 2001.

Leduc also denied Bourque's claim that his party workers were systematically ejected from polling stations across the city. In fact, she said, that happened at only two of 279 polling stations, as a result of a misunderstanding.

Leduc said both parties were ejected, disputing claims by Bourque candidates that his Vision Montreal was singled out.

Leduc works at arm's length from city hall. It was her department that hired PG at a cost of $2.9 million. She said the contract was given after an open bidding process. PG, a Rimouski company, was the only bidder.

Asked if she is considering taking legal action against PG over the difficulties, she said: "We are analyzing our contract."

In an interview last night, PG's president, Thomas Gagnon, said his company is still investigating why the transmissions failed.

PG handled 2.8 million votes in elections across Quebec on Sunday - twice the number the company had previously handled in a single day, he admitted.

He said there was a Plan B in case of transmission difficulties. Workers were to send results by phone, a backup system he said worked well.

Asked if PG hopes to run the next Montreal election, he said: "We're an excellent company. We had problems. We're going to sit down with our clients and see how we can improve things so next time things work better."

Frank Zampino, chairperson of Tremblay's executive committee, said the mayor is satisfied that despite problems, the election results accurately reflect how Montrealers voted.

"We want answers from (Leduc) but those glitches weren't serious enough to warrant a judicial, general recount of the election," Zampino said.

He said the mayor's party - the Montreal Island Citizens Union - is considering asking for recounts in districts where it lost by small margins.

Candidates have until Friday to file recount requests.

ariga@thegazette.canwest.com

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New winners declared in two boroughs

Montreal's election office has declared new winners in two of Sunday's election races.

In Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough, the city councillor in Louis Riel district is Richer Dompierre, of Pierre Bourque's Vision Montreal party, by 50 votes.

Initially, the election office had declared Nicolas Tetrault of Mayor Gerald Tremblay's Montreal Island Citizens Union the winner, by 12 votes.

In Plateau Mont Royal borough, the borough councillor winner is Josee Duplessis, of the Montreal Island Citizens Union, by 11 votes.

Initially, the election office had declared Emilie Thuillier, of Projet Montreal, winner by 12 votes.

For final election results, go to: http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/election