Winner-turned-loser wants investigation into school board vote

A candidate who was briefly declared a winnerin theschool board elections in Newfoundland and Labrador is calling for a fullinvestigation into the vote.

Wade Smith, a candidate in Zone 12, saidhe has serious concerns about what happened in this week's vote and wantsa thorough review of the election to dispel the rumours.

"I want to make sure that everything was done under the [Schools] Act, and was done above board," he told CBC Radio's On The Go."I think that the only way that this is going to be cleared up now is to have a full investigation into what happened in Zone 12."

• New ballots in school board vote swing 1 seat

Smith, a paramedic who fought to keep Whitbourne Elementary open, was believed to have been elected in Zone12, which includes Whitbourne and communities on the south shore of Trinity Bay and the north shore of Conception Bay.

However, the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District (NLESD)found an extra poll that had not been counted in the totals.

Votes in that additional poll were heavily tilted towards another candidate Hayward Blake, a town councillor in Harbour Grace and swung the election.

"There's a lot of questions," Smith said."I am right now seeking legal advice on it."

Missing votes

Votes at Woodland Elementary in Dildo were counted according to procedure but a fax message meant to convey the results to the NLESD failed, according to Terry Hall, the returning officer for the vote.

The ballots were tallied without the board noticing that one of the polls was missing, Hall said. So when the preliminary results were announced Smith had the lead.

• 'Just a mistake':NLESDschool board election officer apologizes wrong winner declared

Smith said he was skeptical that an entire poll could have been missed, claiming voting officials at the poll in Whitbourne were called when their vote totals didn't come in.

Hall saidthere was correspondence with some polling stations, but that didn't happen atWoodland Elementary.

Smith also raised questions about whether the votes were secure in the hours before the results were updated, but Hall said everything was counted securely.

"There's nothing any different with the Woodland poll and count as with any other polling station," Hall told CBC Radio's On The Go.

"The count was done, the polling station was closed. The count was done with the DRO [district returning officer] and polling clerk present."

Small bump in turnout

Hall saidturnout was up slightly in this year's election, with about 9,000 votes just over two per cent of all eligible voters.

• FULL RESULTS: Newfoundland and Labrador English School District board election

Hall admitted that it wasn't a high turnout, but said the school district and the Department of Education did succeed in making information available about the vote.

"I think you'll find, historically, and even across other districts, there isn't always a large turnout for school district ballots," Hall said. But we're pleased that we had more this time."