Not yet throwing in the towel, Tracy Hicks may still get his seventh term as Gore’s mayor if a recount goes his way.
After losing the mayoral election to Ben Bell by just eight votes last week, Mr Hicks said he applied to the court for a recount on Monday afternoon.
‘‘The last thing I want to be is a sore loser because I love this place.’’
However, with the tight margin, he said he owed it to his supporters and himself to ensure no errors were made in the result.
‘‘I’ve certainly been encouraged to do this by a lot of people. The public response has been quite overwhelming.
‘‘I’m not suggesting there was anything untoward at all, but it just seemed odd in a couple of areas.’’
There was only one informal vote but 114 blank votes, which was proportionally quite different from other neighbouring districts, Mr Hicks said.
‘‘I know there [were] a lot votes that came in at the last minute. Mistakes can occur.’’
The cost of the recount would come out of his own pocket, he said.
The filing fee had been about $750 but he was unsure about any additional costs if the recount was granted.
‘‘It’ll cost what it’ll cost. If I don’t do this I’ll forever wonder ‘What if?’.
‘‘If it comes back with exactly the same result then that’s fantastic. If it comes back with a slightly different result then we’ll look at what that looks like at the time.’’
He understood the recount would be a relatively simple process but was unsure how long it would take.
On Friday, Mr Bell said he believed it was quite difficult to get a recount confirmed and that it was a robust process.
‘‘It’ll be interesting to see whether [he] gets it, and I’ll have to play by the rules in terms of whether there’s a recount or not.
‘‘If I was in his position, I’d certainly be doing the same thing.’’
According to the Local Electoral Act, the judge must decide if there were ‘‘reasonable grounds’’ to believe the tally was incorrect, and that on a recount the candidate might be elected.
If a recount was ordered, candidates could appoint scrutineers.
• The timing of the recount, if granted, would depend on the judge’s decision, which was yet to be made at the time The Ensign went to print.
