FREDERICTON -- Two political parties in New Brunswick are seeking judicial recounts in seven ridings after last week's provincial election, citing a number of factors including the software glitch that was blamed for a two-hour delay in posting the results.
New Brunswick's Progressive Conservatives are seeking judicial recounts in six ridings, said party president Jason Stephen.
"What we really couldn't accept was the way that the results were delivered to us and we're just asking a judge to rule on that," Stephen said Tuesday.
The Tories are seeking recounts in Saint John East, Saint John Harbour, Charlotte-Campobello, Carleton-Victoria, Fredericton North, and Shippagan.
The recount for Saint John East will be granted automatically because Glen Savoie of the Progressive Conservatives lost in that riding by eight votes. By law, anyone losing by 25 votes or less is automatically given a recount upon request.
Requests for recounts on other grounds must be accompanied by a signed affidavit and are up to the discretion of a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench.
Stephen said there are concerns over irregularities in how the vote results were released in some ridings, while in other cases the number of spoiled ballots exceeds the margin of victory.
The Liberals won the election with 27 seats, while the Progressive Conservatives took 21 and the Green party was victorious in one riding.
The leader of the People's Alliance of New Brunswick has also applied for a judicial recount in Fredericton-Grand Lake, where he lost to Progressive Conservative candidate Pam Lynch by 26 votes.
Kris Austin said a recount should be done based on the fact that someone cast a ballot despite not living in the riding. Elections New Brunswick confirmed one woman cast a ballot in Austin's riding even though she wasn't eligible to because she lived outside it.
If granted, the recounts would be held within four days, but no dates have been set.
