Liberals' Kusmierczyk pushes for recount in 'razor-thin' loss to Conservatives

Fewer than 250 votes – that was Conservative candidate Kathy Borrelli's initial margin of victory over the Liberals' Irek Kusmierczyk, who has served as the MP for Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore for more than five years. 

Now, Kusmierczyk is pushing for a recount in the border city riding after Borrelli's lead dropped to just 77 votes once the federal election results were validated.

"We know that this election was razor-thin," Kusmierczyk said outside the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Windsor on Monday. 

"We believe strongly that we owe the residents to do everything possible to make sure that every vote that was cast was valid and that every valid vote is counted."

On Monday morning, Kusmierczyk's team filed an application for a judicial recount, which the court accepted and will review later this week, he said. 

A representative for Borrelli said they won't be commenting before the court makes its decision.

"Certainly it's reasonable for Mr. Kusmierczyk to make the case that, given how close it is, that he would like to make sure that every vote was properly accounted for," said Lydia Miljan, a political science professor at the University of Windsor.

Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore is one of several ridings across the country where the results were so tight that recounts are likely or have been automatically triggered. 

The recounts, depending on their results, could shift the makeup of the next Parliament as the Liberals sit at 169 seats – just three short of a majority government.

WATCH: How the automatic recount will work for Terra Nova-The Peninsulas

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It was too close to call on election night, but Liberal candidate Anthony Germain defeated Conservative Jonathan Rowe in Terra Nova - The Peninsulas by just 12 votes. It’s a victory so small that it automatically goes to a recount. Here and Now’s Heather Gillis breaks down the recount rules and what the candidates think.

"Depending on how all these recounts go, it could increase the Carney government to maybe even a majority, or it could reduce them back down to 165," said Miljan, who also serves as a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute. "We just don't know, given the closeness of a lot of these races."

Already, seats have flipped in close races after Elections Canada validated the April 28 election results. That process does not include recounting ballots. 

Kusmierczyk was only seven votes shy of an automatic recount, which would have been triggered had the difference between the vote totals for the two candidates been less than one one-thousandth of the overall number of valid votes cast in the riding. 

Just over 70,000 people voted in the riding, meaning the difference would have needed to be 70 or fewer votes.  

Kusmierczyk says he believes he has strong evidence to support a recount, which will need to be approved by a judge. The validated Elections Canada results show 536 votes were rejected in the riding. 

"We feel strongly that many of those votes were wrongly rejected," Kusmierczyk said.

The Elections Canada validation process narrowed the vote margin to 77 votes from 233. 

Miljan says it's not unusual for mistakes to happen  "either in numbers being transposed or how they're reported," that are then corrected in the validation process. 

But she said Kusmierczyk likely has a good shot at securing a recount.

"I don't think it would be a difficult case for him to make," she said. "And he can certainly say given the verification, there were so many votes that were not allocated for whatever reason — that's probably a good enough case."

Kusmierczyk said there will be a court hearing Friday where he'll be able to make his case before the judge.

From that point, a recount would be done relatively quickly. "Residents want to see a timely conclusion to this process," he said. "We're talking a matter of days, not weeks."

Elections Canada says on its website that the law stipulates that a recount "must commence within four days after the judge receives the application for a recount."

"The goal of the recount is to provide a timely and final determination as to the elected member of the House of Commons," the website says. "This may be important in determining the makeup of the government. For this reason, timelines in the Act are very tight."

Either way, Kusmierczyk said he will "absolutely and unequivocally" accept the result of the recount if one takes place.

He also said he would "absolutely" work with Borrelli if she remains the winner "to make sure that the community is supported."