Council election recount to take place in Waterside after Alliance court challenge

The recount relates to the Waterside ward, where the failure to redistribute around 150 transferable votes from an elimated candidate may have cost an Alliance councillor his seat.

Alliance lodged a legal challenge in the High Court after the discrepancy was discovered.

Phillip McKinney, who won the seat at the expense of a DUP candidate in 2019, lost his seat to Martin Reilly of the SDLP by just 49 votes this time around.

However, it is now accepted that the decision to declare Martin Reilly elected on the sixth count without reaching the quota was premature, as the surplus votes from the DUP’s Chelsea Cooke were not taken into consideration.

The Alliance Party lodged an election petition with the High Court in Belfast after election enthusiast John Cartwright alerted the party to the potential discrepancy, the BBC reported.

Mr Cartwright said he was scanning through the election results for Derry City and Strabane District Council when he noticed the issue and contacted candidates in the Waterside ward to raise his concerns.Alliance Party leader Naomi Long subsequently said she had it confirmed by both the council and the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland that there was an error in the count.The Electoral Office for Northern Ireland has now said that the High Court has ordered that the counting should resume on Wednesday.It is understood the recount will take place in the Foyle Arena, but only from stage seven of the count onwards.

The declared loss of Mr McKinney’s seat in May meant that, along with Rachael Ferguson (Faughan), Alliance lost its only two councillors on Derry City and Strabane Council.A spokesperson for the council said the recount his taking place with the agreement of all parties

“The outcome of the process on Wednesday will be reported to the court, which will further consider the matter during a hearing which is expected to take place later next week,” the spokesperson said.

The councillors already safely elected in Waterside are: Caitlin Deeney, Sinn Féin; Darren Guy, Ulster Unionist; Christopher Jackson, Sinn Féin; Chelsea Cooke, DUP; Niree McMorris, DUP and Sean Mooney of the SDLP.