Recounts in two Red Deer County divisions have confirmed the Oct. 21 voting results, resulting in the election of Connie Huelsman in Division 4 and Don Church in Division 3, officials said Oct. 22.
On Oct. 21, incumbent Penny Archibald and challenger Don Church each garnered 288 votes in Division 3, while incumbent David Hoar and challenger Connie Huelsman each garnered 328 votes in Division 4.
Under the Local Authorities Election Act, when it was determined following the Oct. 21 vote that there were ties in each division, returning officer Nancy Lougheed placed the names of the candidates in a reciprocal and drew out one name for each division.
The candidates whose names was drawn – Don Church in Division 3 and Connie Huelsman in Division 4 – were then each given one additional vote and deemed to be elected.
When the Oct. 22 recount confirmed the tied votes, Huelsman and Church were confirmed elected, she said.
All election results are unofficial until Friday.
Asked if the fact the Local Authorities Elections Act was used to break the tie in the division concerns her, Connie Huelsman said no.
“It's move on from here. I did see the democratic process at work and I think it was fair for both parties. I think it went very well,” Huelsman told the Gazette.
Dan Church could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.
The other candidates elected in the county were Jean Marie Bota, Christine Moore, Richard Lorenz, Phillip Massier (by acclamation) and Mayor Jim Wood (also by acclamation).
Returning officer Nancy Lougheed said the fact there were ties in two divisions was certainly extraordinary.
“I very happy to see that my election workers did the job they were supposed to do,” said Lougheed. “I've been doing elections since 1998 and I haven't even had one tie vote on an original count.”
