Frieda Martselos re-elected chief of Salt River First Nation

The runner-up candidate is considering appealing the Salt River First Nation election results after incumbent Chief Frieda Martselos was re-elected by a margin of nine votes.

Martselos received 135 votes to April McAllister's 126 in Monday's election. Melvin Wandering-Spirit finished third with 29 votes.

Martselos says she's happy with the result.

"No matter what the margin is, the members of Salt River spoke for honesty and that to me is extremely important," she said.

McAllister says she considered the election a positive experience overall.

"This election was very encouraging just because of how the vote count was so very close and also that overall we had a very, very high voter turnout rate which was encouraging," she said.

But McCalister says she's thinking about appealing the results. She says 25 mail-in ballots were not counted because they were missing a statutory declaration — a form people must submit with their ballots stating they are eligible to vote.

McAllister says she's still deciding whether or not to go ahead with an appeal.

"I'm still communicating with new members as the names arise, so there's still a little bit of homework to do before the final decision could be made."

Martselos would not comment on anything in regards to the election.

"There's an appeal committee that we have in place. That's up to the electoral officer and the process," she said.

Electoral Officer Lynda Martin says some ballots came back without the statutory declaration but couldn't say how many.

McAllister says the appeal would cost #1,000 and she has to make the decision within five days.

Patricia Schaefer-Coleman, Raymond Tourangeau, Christopher Hunter, Ronald Schaefer, Norman Starr and Don Matthews were elected councillors.