There will be a recount!

Friday 09 October 2020

The Bailiff has accepted an application by four unsuccessful candidates for a recount of election votes, although the scale of that recount is yet to be decided.

In a statement made in the last hour, Pierre Ehmann, who finished in 40th place with 6,335 votes, said he and three others had applied for a recount.

The other signatories are Catherine Hall (6,281 votes), Scott Ogier (6,097 votes) and Garry Collins (6,076 votes). They are aiming to supplant Carl Meerveld, who finished in 38th position with 6,475 votes. Meanwhile Fergus Dunlop, who finished 39th with 6,353 votes, told Express earlier today that he had accepted the result. 

The application has been accepted by the Bailiff as it met the criteria for a recount. 

"I'm tremendously proud of how well I did, thank you everyone for the messages and comments of support," said Mr Ehmann. "Having spoken to a few other candidates today in the 2% bracket we have decided to call for a recount - reflecting upon a lot of your requests as well!

Pictured: The letter sent by the four election candidates to the Bailiff's Office. 

"We do not expect the outcome to change, but as Election 2020 is the first to be undertaken using island wide voting as well as the first Guernsey election to utilise electronic vote-counting technology, we believe it is legitimate to check twice."

The Bailiff's Office told Express at 17:30 that there was not yet a final decision on how the recount will work in practice or when it will start. 

One of the big questions is whether all votes will be recounted, or just those for the individuals concerned. 

Follow Express for more updates.