The votes are in, the results have been re-tabulated, and Kieth Bertrand has been given the last seat on council after a tie between two former mayors left the results up in the air.
Don McPherson and Keith Betrand both received 108 votes in the preliminary count for the District of Tumbler Ridge’s by-election, meaning that there was no clear winner after the vote.
But following the determination of official results, Chief Election Officer (CEO) for the District of Tumbler Ridge Adriana Alves declared Keith Bertrand elected to the position of councillor on Tuesday, April 15.
According to Alves, on April 15 at 3:30, the four candidates came to town hall, where together with herself, the Deputy Chief Election Officer and one Election Official, they conducted the determination process as required by local election legislation. “The process consisted of opening the sealed election material envelopes, verifying the list of electors, of all ballot accounts for all voting opportunities (advanced voting, mail ballots and general election day), recounting all valid votes, and reconsidering any rejected ballots.”
Alves says that a full recount was conducted, and no discrepancies were found.
But, she says, originally three ballots were rejected, as they didn’t meet the requirements set out under section 139(2) and section 139(4)(c) of the Local Government Act. However, following the receipt of legal advice, two of the three previously rejected ballots were accepted, as “the voters’ intention…was clear, despite technical non-compliance.”
And of those two, one was for Bertrand, pushing him to victory with one more vote than McPherson.
David Thompson came in third with 79 votes, while Natasha Dougherty rounded out the slate of candidates with 30.
That means 328 people came out and voted in one of the lowest election turnouts in years.
For the last general election, 573 people came out to vote, or less than a third of the estimated eligible voters. That was down from the approximately 53.5 percent the previous election.
Residents had three chances to get out and vote. There were advance polls at town hall on April 2, 9 and then election day on April 12, 2025. People also had the opportunity to vote by mail ballot.
These results are now final.
If the two had remained tied, a judicial recount would have been ordered. “After Judicial Recount, if there was still a tie, the District of Tumbler Ridge Election and Assent Voting Bylaw No. 710, 2022, and section 151 of the Local Government Act requires that the winner be determined by lot (a draw supervised by the court).”
Many people are expressing relief that it didn’t come to that. While both candidates were equally supported, and so either could have filled the role, many residents expressed feelings that such a move would have felt undemocratic.
The next municipal election happens on October 2026, or a year and a half from now.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
