Cartmell calls for audit of Edmonton election results after wide variation in ward race’s recount

Tim Cartmell is among those calling for a third-party audit of Edmonton's election after ballot boxes were missed during counting. Amanda Anderson reports.

The runner-up for mayor in Monday’s municipal election says he would like an audit of the results after a discrepancy was found in a recount of ballots in one ward’s race.

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Tim Cartmell, who finished second to fellow former Edmonton city councillor Andrew Knack in the vote, said Thursday that the disparity in the results following a recount in the race for city councillor in Ward sipiwiyiniwak – it swung from a narrow six-vote difference to one of more than 600 – brings into question the validity of the ballot-counting process.

He said the relatively low Edmonton voter turnout of 30 per cent “speaks to a cynicism amongst the electorate about whether it’s worth voting, whether a vote really changes things” and that the Ward sipiwiyiniwak recount that saw Thu Parmar come from behind to defeat Darrell Friesen “runs the risk of adding to the cynicism.”

“I think we need to do an audit, not necessarily to on the premise that any votes are going to change or any positions are going to change, but to reassure people that their ballots are cared for and valued and counted,” Cartmell, who lost to Knack by 16,800 votes, told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday.

Knack earned 38 per cent of the vote, while Cartmell received just under 30 per cent.

“I want to be really clear, Andrew’s the mayor,” Cartmell said. “I completely respect that he’s duly elected.”

Edmonton Elections said in a media release on Thursday afternoon that a “transposition error from one of the tally sheets” in Ward sipiwiyiniwak led to the ballot discrepancy.

Drew Westwater, an election management consultant and a retired Alberta deputy chief electoral officer, said once the results of elections across Alberta are made official by noon on Friday, voters “should have full confidence in the results” as it’s “normal, standard practice in every election event.”

“What’s happening now is exactly what should happen after election night: All the unofficial results that are reported election night, and all the supplies and materials and forms recording those results, are brought back to the returning officer, and they and their teams review all those results and totals and confirm that they’re accurate and correct and that everything’s been done,” Westwater told CTV News on Thursday.

“If they’re not, they take steps ... to fix them before the official results are announced on Friday.”

Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams said Thursday at the Alberta legislature that the province will work with Edmonton Elections “to make sure they follow every single law.”

“They must count every single ballot, no exceptions,” Williams told media.

Last fall, the Alberta government prohibited cities and towns from using electronic tabulators to count ballots in an effort to raise trust in election integrity.

They cited a Leger poll from June 2024 that found 36 per cent of Albertans don’t trust electronically counted ballots.

The prohibition came as part of a bill the government passed that spring that also allowed political parties to run on municipal ballots in Edmonton and Calgary.

A year ago at their annual convention, Alberta municipalities called for the province to reverse its plan to ban vote-counting machines, saying it’s more costly and time-consuming to count by hand. However, Premier Danielle Smith told media at the convention held in Red Deer that electronic tabulators had failed to produce faster results and confidence in them.

In 2023, members of Smith’s United Conservative Party voted overwhelmingly to ban ballot-counting machines in provincial elections, citing security concerns.

A resolution presented at the 2024 convention called for the government to change course and passed in an 85.8 per cent vote.

With files from The Canadian Press