THUNDER BAY – A candidate who lost by a narrow margin in this week’s municipal election is seeking a hand counted look at the totals.
Westfort candidate Frank Scarcello, who was defeated by incumbent Joe Virdiramo by 45 votes, told tbnewswatch.com on Friday afternoon that he intended to request a judge order a manual recount of the votes from Monday’s election.
“I think a manual recount would be the best way to do this. If he agrees we do the manual recount, if he doesn’t then it is over,” he said.
Scarcello met with city clerk and election returning officer John Hannam earlier this week where he was informed of his options in seeking a recount.
His other option, besides the judicial review, would to be bring the matter to request city council approve another count performed in the same manner as the original, meaning another tabulator run.
In requesting the manual count Scarcello has to make a case to the court. He did not provide specifics of what he intended to argue. He said he plans to submit his request on Monday.
He said he has received a number of messages from people urging him to go forward with the process.
“I think I owe it to my supporters to do this and we’ll see what happens,” he said.
