Linda Jackson remains the mayor of Vaughan, Ont. after a hand recount of votes confirmed that she beat rival Michael Di Biase by a slim margin of 90 votes.
"I guess three's a charm," the Toronto Star reported Jackson saying to reporters after the result was announced. She was referring to the initial counting of ballots on Nov. 13 of last year, followed by two recounts.
A hard-fought, and sometimes bitter, municipal election campaign resulted in Jackson unseating Di Biase.
The vote result was immediately contested by Di Biase, who was the incumbent. He asked for a recount and received it. Once again, Jackson was confirmed the winner but the margin changed to 94 votes.
Then Di Biase complained of irregularities with the electronic tabulators used to count votes.
Di Biase said the electronic method of counting may have discounted as many as 1,600 ballots and took his argument to court.
A judge ruled earlier this month that a full recount was necessary, saying it was not proper to have votes discounted based on the specifications used by the tabulator's manufacturer.
Di Biase conceded defeat and said he was glad the recount occurred. He has 15 days to appeal Thursday's decision but it does not appear that will happen.
"I'd like to more forward. I'm glad it's over," the Star quoted Di Biase.
Jackson said she hopes Di Biase will respect the results of the recount, adding that the process has been "very stressful" for her family and employees of the city.
"It's been a distraction for five months," she said.
The final tally from the recount was 28,351 votes for Di Biase and 28,419 for Jackson. Forty-nine ballots were disputed during the count.
With files from The Canadian Press
