Saturday, October 3, 2009

Teen mayor seeks recount after losing on a draw from a hat

This is silly. Choosing a mayor by drawing straws? I suppose it's impartial but somehow it doesn't feel right:

Canwest News Service 

Published: Saturday, October 03, 2009

Briefly the mayor of Paradise, N. L., Kurtis Coombs, 19, is seeking a judicial recount after losing the race to his opponent on a draw from a hat. "I'm going to fight it to the end. I mean drawing a name from a hat?" Mr. Coombs said. "I always thought it was supposed to be the people that spoke." The draw resulted when a recount of his three-vote lead in this week's municipal election in Paradise, outside St. John's, ended in a tie. According to the province's Elections Act, the resolution to a tie vote is to put both candidate's names on slips of paper -- the winner being the one whose name is drawn. That gave the election to the incumbent, Ralph Wiseman. Mr. Coombs is objecting to one of the ballots turned over to Mr. Wiseman's favour during the recount. If the matter goes to a judicial recount, that ballot could potentially shift the pendulum.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

416 225 2777

2 comments:

Patrick Ross said...

I say settle it with a thumb wrestling match.

Anonymous said...

man, I was rooting for that kid. A mayor at 19, that's impressive..even if it is a small town in Nfld. The kid is well-spoken and seems to have a good handle on the issues, too.