LAKELAND – The wait continues in the naming of the Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul’s next UCP representative after a one-vote difference was counted following polls closing on Monday evening.
Thursday morning, the local constituency association confirmed that an appeal had been made by one of the nominees leading to the ongoing delay in the nomination results.
The two nominees vying for the first-place finish are not being identified by the association.
Nominees running for the UCP constituency nomination race included current UCP MLA David Hanson up against former UCP MLA Scott Cyr and former MD of Bonnyville Reeve Greg Sawchuk.
An official statement naming the riding’s next UCP candidate is expected to be released by the UCP party following the provincial UCP board’s review of the appeal, which will determine if a ballot recount will be conducted.
The results could be emailed directly to all the riding’s UCP members as early as tomorrow afternoon, according to the local constituency association president Ron Young.
A total of 723 UCP members of about 1,500 eligible voters participated in the vote from Dec. 10-12.
Adding to the intricacy of the ballot count, UCP voters had the option to vote for just one nominee or take part in a preferential vote where they listed their preferences of candidate from one to three.
Out of the 723 ballots, up to roughly 250 voters selected one candidate. The remaining ballots opted for preferential voting, said Young.
If the recount results in a tie, party policy states that a coin toss will determine the constituency's next UCP candidate. The winning candidate will run in the next provincial election slated for the spring of 2023.
“Until the appeal is heard, there's nothing really to be said at all,” said Young.
However, the constituency president acknowledged, “It's critical that people know that there is going to be resolution to this. The longer that it takes for those results to come out the more conspiracy theories and distrust there is. So, it’s important to get those results out quickly.”
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