Kusmierczyk files for judicial recount in Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore

The Liberal campaign in Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore has applied for a judicial recount of the April 28 election results after losing by 77 votes.

The Liberal campaign in Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore has applied for a judicial recount of the April 28 election results that awarded the riding to the Conservative candidate by just 77 votes.

On Monday, Irek Kusmierczyk, who ran for re-election in the riding, told CTV News his campaign had filed for the review to ensure there was no doubt about the result.

“We felt very strongly that we owe the residents of this community to make sure that every vote is valid,” said Kusmierczyk.

Elections Canada validated the election results, reducing the victory for Conservative Kathy Borrelli from 233 votes to 77 votes — narrowly missing the 1/1000 automatic recount threshold by seven votes.

That validation process also identified 536 rejected ballots, which did not count toward the validated result.

Kusmierczyk’s camp believes there were errors made in rejecting those ballots and believes there are enough votes for him to flip the riding from a Conservative win to a Liberal hold.

“Our scrutineers who are there at the polls, they were there in the voting stations and monitoring what was happening,” said Kusmierczyk. “We know that a large number of those ballots that were rejected, were rejected wrongfully.”

Kusmierczyk added he had called Borrelli to congratulate her campaign following the results released on election night, but stressed new information has changed the dynamics and requires, in his view, a recount to confirm the vote.

He also stressed his camp would abide by whatever result the judge delivers.

“One hundred per cent, unequivocally, we will respect the outcome of this judicial recount in this process,” said Kusmierczyk.

The application will be made to a Windsor judge in a virtual session at noon on Friday.

Kusmierczyk was first elected to the House of Commons in 2019, when the riding went by the name of Windsor—Tecumseh before being redrawn to include Lakeshore in the 2025 election.

Borrelli previously ran for the Conservatives in the riding’s previous iteration in 2021, finishing third in voting.