Conservative Kathy Borrelli narrowly upholds win in federal Windsor-area riding recount

A ballot recount in Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore has confirmed a Conservative win in the border city riding, formalizing the party's blue wave in Canada's most southern tip.

The recount, which started Tuesday and wrapped up Thursday, narrowed Conservative candidate Kathy Borrelli's margin of victory over Liberal incumbent Irek Kusmierczyk to a mere four votes, according to Elections Canada.

The recount took place in a Tecumseh strip mall and took three days to complete.

Borrelli finished with 32,090 or 45.8 per cent of the votes. Kusmierczyk ended with 32,086 votes or 45.7 per cent. There were 458 rejected ballots listed as well.

Unofficial results for the riding after the April 28 federal election showed Borrelli had won by 233 votes. But once Elections Canada validated the results, that lead dropped to 77 — just seven votes shy of triggering an automatic recount based on the total number of votes cast in the riding.

Kusmierczyk said the support he received during the process was "incredible" and "inspiring" and "above all humbling."

"We came up a little short," he wrote in a Friday social media post.

"Four votes to be exact (but who's counting, ha). The victory is in the fight. We showed the fight, and that's what matters. In the end, that is all we hold in our hands.

Alicia Higgison is the vice-president of the Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore Liberal Riding Association. She volunteered to sit in on the Elections Canada recount and says the process was a "real testament" to the way democracy works in Canada.

"It was great to sit with my Conservative counterpart volunteer at the table," she told Windsor Morning host Amy Dodge. "We had actually a nice time talking to each other and, and just making sure that the work that we had done over the course of the election, the work that voters had done, was accurate and clear and got counted appropriately and effectively."

Jordan Katz with the local Conservative riding association was also present for the recount in Tecumseh.

He says he's a "huge proponent" of how elections are done in Canada.

"I think having the paper ballots where if there's any questions, you can actually go back, look at the ballots, have lawyers examine the ballots, have judges examine the ballots and determine that the will of the people is actually the result that comes out of the process," he told Windsor Morning host Amy Dodge.

Katz says "99 per cent" of the ballots he saw counted were "perfect."

"There were a number of irregularities where people either didn't put their X or check mark or mark in the circle, or they marked the ballots in some other way."

A judge on May 9 approved Kusmierczyk's request for a judicial recount, ruling that there was sufficient evidence to justify one.

"We got a shot. That's all we asked for," Kusmierczyk said outside the courthouse in downtown Windsor after the judge approved the recount.

"At the end of the day, what we're after is clarity and confidence for this community in the results of the election," he said.

Borrelli said at the time that she respected the judge's order and would "co-operate fully" with the process.

WATCH | Recount ordered in Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore election results:

Kusmierczyk's application relied on affidavits from several scrutineers for his campaign who said they witnessed elections officials reject ballots that they believed were valid.

Those ballots included instances where voters had made additional markings outside the circle next to Kusmierczyk's name to indicate their support for him.

Elections Canada data originally showed that of the roughly 70,000 ballots cast in the riding, more than 500 were rejected.

Kusmierczyk made a call for donations before the process began. "Every bit helps with the cost of the recount," he said on social media.

Borrelli posted on social media as well, saying her "team of expert scrutineers and lawyers" would be present "to make sure that each and every ballot is fairly counted." She also apologized for the "delay in service" the recount had caused the community but said her team was eager to get to work.

She had previously travelled to Ottawa with fellow local Conservatives for meetings and orientation before Parliament resumes at the end of the month.

The local recount was among a handful of others in close races across the country — including one where the Liberal candidate won by a single vote.

The official results in Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore come just days ahead of the House's return on May 26 and a throne speech by King Charles III the day after.