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Red Deer updates vote counts after technical issue

Issue with some advanced poll had no impact on who was elected
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Several Red Deer city council candidates generally agree that Red Deer’s racist reputation needs to be confronted and remediated. (Advocate file photo)

City of Red Deer has updated its election vote counts following a recount triggered by an “isolated technical issue” at two advance polling stations.

The recount was undertaken on Tuesday because of technical issues that disrupted results reporting from the advance vote at the Baymont by Wyndham Red Deer and the Mustard Seed.

“The recount did not change the outcome of the election,” said the city in a news release.

The new tally confirms Ken Johnston as the winning mayoral candidate with 11,611, up 738 votes from the 10,873 reported on Tuesday. The order of the challengers remains unchanged but the vote counts increased by up to 133 for Jeremy Moore (3,169 from 3,036) to an increase of 12 (377 to 389) for sixth-place finisher James Allen.

Council candidates also got more votes in the recount but their finishing positions remained unchanged. Top vote getter Michael Dawe saw his vount increase to 12,141 from 11,378 — an increase of 763 votes. Victor Doerksen, the last council member elected, saw his count increase by 299 votes to 5,884. Those not elected saw their votes increase by 236 for a final count of 5,122, for ninth-place finisher Chad Krahn to an increase of 18 votes for a total of 435 for Steve Coop, the 30th-place finisher.

Likewise, Red Deer Public School trustee winners also picked up votes, with no changes in the who was elected or in what order. Vote changes range from an extra 367 votes to 254.

In Red Deer Catholic Separate School Division only the Red Deer Area Ward was affected. Again the order did not change and the five winning candidates picked up between 163 and 115 extra votes.

Red Deer saw an increase in voter turnout compared to the last municipal election. This year, 21,548 out of 71,475 eligible voters, or 30.15 per cent, cast their ballots, including 10,622 during the Advance Vote. This was an increase over 2017, which saw 19,265 of 66,897 eligible voters, or 28.8 per cent, cast their ballots, including 2,639 during Advance Vote.



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