City of Brantford to recount 'certain ballots' cast in mayoral election

The City of Brantford has agreed to a manual recount of "certain ballots" cast in the most recent municipal election to avoid a legal process initiated by runner-up candidate Dave Wrobel.

The city will recount those ballots that were cast in person on October 24, 2022.

When the polls closed and the ballots were counted, incumbent City of Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis was reclaimed by a narrow margin over Wrobel.

“Shortly thereafter, runner-up candidate Dave Wrobel filed an application with the court, naming the city as a defendant, requesting the court order a hand recount of the votes and seeking a declaration as to the validity of the election,” the city said in a news release.

The city said to avoid a lengthy and expensive tax-funded legal process, a resolution has been achieved by both parties that has now been confirmed by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

"This is very unusual six months out," said retired political science professor Peter Woolstencroft. "I'm very interested in what the result will be but I'm also really interested in what was said to the judge to make the judge think there was a problem here."

According to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), Davis won with 9,220 votes, with Wrobel coming in a close second, having secured 9,012 votes.

This means the two were separated by just 208 votes.

On April 12, 2023, the court confirmed the agreement detailing that the recount of certain ballots cast in the municipal election held by the office of the mayor be conducted by the office of the clerk of the city.

The city said the recount must take place within 30 days starting from April 12 – meaning the votes must be counted before May 12.

"One of the options open to candidates is to go to a court, a Superior Court of Justice Ontario, and say 'I have reasons to believe that the process was compromised,'" said Woolstencroft. "He would have had to persuade the judge there was sufficient grounds to question the result."

While Woolstencroft calls this recount unusual, he believes it is an example of a thriving system.

"I'm aware of many instances where the count is on the face of it, not fair. So we're blessed with an excellent system, so once and awhile you're gonna have a peculiar case and right now Brantford is that peculiar case."

CTV News reached out to both Mayor Kevin Davis and Dave Wrobel.

Wrobel was not available for an interview, but sent a statement Friday regarding the matter saying in part: "I would like to thank the Superior Court Justice for issuing an order to do what should have been done by the City 143 days ago, at the City Council meeting held on November 22, 2022. Ultimately, such a decision would have avoided the need for the city to retain an outside law firm and would have saved 10’s of thousands of your tax dollars..."

He added: "I believe a vote recount is like an audit of our electoral system. I believe it is a responsible step to ensure openness, transparency and accountability of our elections."

Davis did not respond in time for air.

In the weeks following the election, Ward 4 Coun. Richard Carpenter moved a motion to recount the votes for the office of mayor.

The motion sought to follow the Municipal Elections Act to allow for the municipality to pass a resolution requiring a recount of the votes cast for all or specified candidates for an office on the council.

The motion called for the city clerk to recount the votes cast for the office of mayor.

The motion ultimately failed after councillors voted 5-5.

Mayor Davis declared a conflict of interest on this item and therefore did not participate in the vote and refrained from all discussion.

Additional details regarding the recount process will be shared once the date is confirmed.