More than a month after Ontario’s municipal elections, the City of Cambridge clerk certified the results for the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) trustee election.
"Though this extended voting process has been both challenging and frustrating, I’m very grateful for the many supporters who came out to vote for a second time," said Marisa Phillips, one of WCDSB’s newest trustees. "I feel so blessed and humbled to win this seat for such an important position."
The city released the unofficial results on Friday which showed a voter turnout of 5.7 per cent. The winners of the election included David Guerin, Robert Sikora and Marisa Phillips.
"We all worked so hard to get to today and we have a sense of relief," said Phillips.
The election results come after the vote followed a series of mistakes.
On Oct. 22, the city clerk declared an emergency under section 53 of the Municipal Elections Act to ensure the election’s integrity after it was discovered that the ballots in Cambridge were missing two of six names for the school board trustees representing Cambridge and North Dumfries.
The election was pushed to Nov. 7, but then was further delayed on Nov. 17 after the city reported postage delays.
One retired political sciences professor says these issues can undermine voter confidence.
"Somebody has to be checking those ballots and Cambridge did the right thing once they knew it, it just surprised me that it took so long for them to find out about it," said Peter Woolstencroft.
The city has launched a third-party review to understand how and why the error occurred and to ensure improvements towards future processes.
For Phillips, she is relieved the election is over and looks forward to working alongside her fellow trustees.
"So much has happened and you know, when the election was cancelled and redone again, we had to keep going and we had to keep campaigning," she said.
A summary report, including costs, is expected to be completed by the New Year.
