It's back to the ballot box in Amherstburg.
Council has agreed to a recount for the deputy mayor's seat after councillor Leo Meloche beat councillor Diane Pouget by just four votes in last month's municipal election.
The town's current bylaw states an automatic recount takes place in the event of a tie, but Pouget went before council as a delegate Tuesday night to plead her case.
She says there's no question a new bylaw needs to be drafted to handle votes as close as this.
"I think it should be at least 10 votes or under, I really do, and maybe the new council might believe it should be 20 votes or under. Whatever it is, I think it should be a council resolution and they should decide collectively."
Pouget says she would have liked to see a recount for all candidates, but was told that's not logistically possible.
"Initially, I wanted a recount for all of council, for all 20 candidates, but we were told that if we did that six out of seven members of council would be in a conflict. So I had to drop that request."
Residents attend an Amherstburg Council meeting on November 13, 2018 (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
Dozens of residents attended the council meeting with the majority who spoke calling for a recount as well.
Larry Amlin was one of those residents and says it's all about transparency.
"We've got a great town. There's something about the little charm and I don't want to see that diminished. What we saw here tonight was a lot of people getting a lot of stuff off their chest and it's simple to me, do a recount. Do the right thing and then everybody can walk away."
Amlin believes a recount will remove any doubts.
"It's misinformation. It's spreading like wildfire and it makes it very difficult for council to do their job when you've got information coming to you like that. You don't have factual information and you're trying to represent the residents of the town."
A question of 83 ballots reported spoiled came up at the meeting, but town clerk Paula Parker assured council 82 of the 83 ballots were successfully re-submitted.
The recount is expected to carry a price tag of $25,000 — that cost will be covered by the $50,000 left in the town's election budget.
Pouget and Meloche both have the right to be present at the recount and Pouget says she'll accept the results whichever way they go.
"Whatever may be may be, as long as we have a recount. If councillor Meloche wins, good for him. He will know that he won it fairly and squarely and there won't be any suspicion whatsoever about the counts."
Amherstburg councillor Diane Pouget speaking after a council meeting on November 13, 2018 (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
Amlin says, after all the debate, he just wants to see the new council to come in on a solid footing.
"This council will go and the new one will come in, but what is this new council going to be left with? They have a mayor, they have a deputy mayor with experience, but five brand new councillors that are learning from scratch."
A date for the recount has not yet been determined.
Motion passes. @Aburg_TownHall WILL recount votes in the deputy mayor's race #cklw @AM800News pic.twitter.com/kH1mavTsS3
— Zander Broeckel (@zbroeckel800) November 14, 2018