Battle continues
Vote recounts in New Brunswick could influence which party controls legislature
A third vote recount has been ordered in New Brunswick, following an incredibly tight election race last week that left the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives jockeying for power.
The votes cast in the riding of Oromocto-Lincoln-Fredericton, a seat the Tories won by 93 votes, will be recounted on Thursday.
Recounts are being held Wednesday in Saint John Harbour and Memramcook-Tantramar, where the Green candidate defeated a Liberal rival by 11 votes.
A lawyer for the Progressive Conservative candidate in the Saint John district has alleged that about 40 electors voted twice in the riding, which was won by the Liberals by a 10-vote margin.
Lawyer Matthew Letson says he’ll file a court application to have the results overturned if the recount confirms the original result.
A shift of even a single seat could determine which party will gain control of the legislature.
The Tories, led by Blaine Higgs, won 22 seats in the 49-seat legislature last week - one more than the Liberals led by Premier Brian Gallant.
Neither party has enough seats for a majority, and both leaders have been trying to gain support from the third parties holding the balance of power, with the Greens and the right-leaning People’s Alliance each holding three seats.