Liberal appeals committee reviewing Nickel Belt result

The Liberal Party isn't saying much about an appeal that's underway contesting the results of last weekend's nomination meeting for Nickel Belt.

In an email, Olivier Duchesneau, the party's communications manager and spokesperson, would only confirm that an appeal is underway and will be heard by the Permanent Appeal Committee.

“In accordance with our procedures, no further comment will be made until a final decision has been made by the Permanent Appeal Committee,” Duchesneau said.

Once the committee rules, their decision is final, and details about the appeal will not be released, he added.

Last weekend's nomination saw Marc Serré apparently defeat three candidates – Pablo Gil-Alfau, Jim Belanger and Gerry Guimond – in what organizers called a tight, three-way race.

While Duchesneau wouldn't say which of the losing candidates appealed the result, sources have told NorthernLife.ca it centres on 29 ballots that were declared spoiled, out of 1,009 that were cast.

Under party rules, they use ranked ballots, in which voters indicate their top choice, first, then their second, third and fourth. Anyone unhappy with the result can appeal within 72 hours of the vote, otherwise the result is declared official and the ballots are destroyed.

Serré said Thursday that, considering how close a contest was, an appeal of the result is not unusual.

“It was a tight race between the three candidates,” he said. “It's not unusual. I think all the candidates want to make sure all the Ts were crossed and all the Is were dotted.”

Each candidate had a scrutineer present when the votes were counted, he said, so he doesn't see how a review will change the result.

“I'm confident that the count was done properly,” Serré said. “We'll have to let the party do the recount, go through its process to finalize the outcome. But at this point, there's no indication that the vote will be overturned.”

He hopes the process doesn't detract from what was one of the most hotly contested races in a while, with lots of people turning out to hear speeches and vote for their candidate.

“There was a lot of energy, a lot of excitement,” he said. “But it's completely in the party's hands now. There's nothing to do locally.”

The winner will face off against incumbent NDP MP Claude Gravelle, who has held the riding since 1998. Prime Minister Stephen Harper must call a vote by Oct. 19, although there has been plenty of speculation he may call an early election.