Foster happy at decision over recount
Ousted Wellington mayor Justin Lester will not appeal a District Court judge’s decision to deny his application for a vote recount.
Lester applied for a recount two weeks ago after losing the mayoralty to Andy Foster by 62 votes.
In a decision released yesterday, Judge Kevin Kelly said there was no evidence to support a recount taking place other than the closeness of the race.
Talking to media following the decision, Lester said he respected the judge’s determination. ‘‘You respect that, that’s full and final, and as far as I’m concerned the matter’s at an end.’’
He applied for a recount after being led to believe hundreds of votes deemed invalid because they were not filled out correctly would have swung the election his way had they been counted.
He argued they should have been counted because they clearly showed voters’ intentions.
However, he later discovered many of those votes would have in fact gone to Foster, and not to him as first thought.
Lester said he did not regret asking for a recount, and would have done so regardless of the information he received about the invalid votes. ‘‘When it’s close like this – 62 votes – that’s about 0.1 per cent of the total votes cast.
‘‘So it could have made a change. We’ve never had a manual recount of an STV [single transferable vote] election either.’’
He said his loss was the nature of politics. ‘‘It’s sort of a game . . . and you’ve got to move on when you take a defeat.’’
While he had loved his nine years in local politics, he was looking forward to something different, including entrepreneurial contract work with small businesses and start-ups. He had already started work with one of those businesses.
He had no plans to enter national politics. ‘‘I won an election three years ago, it was probably the happiest day of my life. I lost one three years later. Such is life.’’
Judge Kelly said in his decision the closeness of the vote alone did not amount to reasonable grounds for a recount.
He noted a report filed by the electoral officer found the net result of counting the invalid votes would be a 12-vote gain for Lester. ‘‘Therefore, even if these votes could be counted in accordance with the regulations, there would be insufficient votes to change the result.’’
The electoral officer’s report also outlined the logistics of a recount. The report said although a manual recount – which Lester had requested – was possible, it was not as accurate as electronic counting.
Foster said he was looking forward to finally celebrating his victory following a drawn-out saga.
He led Lester by 715 votes at the end of election day on October 12, but the margin was whittled down to just 62 once all votes were counted a few days later.
Then came the threat of a recount, which was officially sought by Lester two weeks after election day.
Now, almost a month after the election, Foster can finally enjoy his victory. ‘‘It’s been a hard one to know when to actually crack open the champagne. I think we might have a quiet drink with a couple of supporters [tonight].’’
Earlier yesterday, Foster said he was delighted with the news. ‘‘My immediate reaction was, ‘Yes’. It’s good to have this behind us so we can move forward with some confidence.
‘‘I always thought there were no grounds for a recount. That was confirmed by the report from the chief electoral officer.’’
He said in election terms, a 62-vote margin was a landslide.
‘‘The information I received was there might be one or two mistakes, but not 62.’’
Lester wished Foster well but said he faced a difficult challenge getting consensus among councillors with a range of different views.
The Wellington Chamber of Commerce congratulated Foster but also issued a challenge to him.
‘‘Mayor Foster promised strong, experienced, capable leadership to take the city forward, so we’re expecting big things and look forward to helping him achieve them,’’ chief executive John Milford said.