Non-residency costs Gough winning vote in Peachland

Wife of mayoral candidate in tie with Cindy Fortin couldn’t vote in town’s election

Had Harry Gough’s wife been able to vote for him, he’d be Peachland’s mayor-elect today.

Instead, Gough and incumbent Mayor Cindy Fortin will have to wait for a judicial recount to determine which of them will lead the town of 5,200 for the next four years.

The official count after Saturday’s civic election has them tied at 804 votes apiece.

Town officials have asked a judge to go over the ballots. If the tie is confirmed, the winner’s name will be chosen from a hat.

“I’m just waiting to hear where and when the judicial recount will be, but this idea of maybe having to pull the winner’s name out of a hat seems a ridiculous way to settle this,” Gough said Tuesday.

“My thought is we should have a runoff election between Cindy and me, and let the people of Peachland decide,” Gough said.

The current uncertainty has produced some hard feelings in the town, with social media abuzz with suggestions of irregularities both on voting day and in the subsequent counting of ballots.

Fortin took to her Facebook page to appeal for calm.

“I just ask everyone to refrain from accusations and fingerpointing, and other negative comments, and wait to see what is decided through a judicial recount,” Fortin wrote.

“Peachland is a great town. Let’s not smear it anymore through negative comments,” Fortin wrote.

Mayor since 2014, Fortin is a former town councillor and previously was a Peachland correspondent for the Westside Weekly.

Gough owned the town’s supermarket for 20 years before retiring earlier this year, and he’s also a former town councillor.

Gough lives in West Kelowna, but he and his wife share joint ownership of a condominium in Peachland. As such, he was entitled to cast a ballot in the Peachland race as a non-resident property elector.

Although a property may have several out-of-town owners, only one of them can vote in a municipal election taking place in that community. So, on election night, Gough’s wife had to sign a form agreeing to let her husband cast the vote on their behalf. She was not permitted to vote.