Judge in Ontario approves ballot recount in Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore

A judge on Friday said he would be ordering a ballot recount in the riding of Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore, where the Conservative candidate won by fewer than 100 votes in last week’s federal election.

Ontario Superior Court Justice J. Ross Macfarlane said he was satisfied that the legal team representing the Liberals’ Irek Kusmierczyk had provided enough evidence to justify a judicial recount. 

“I am prepared to grant the order,” Macfarlane said during Friday’s court hearing, which took place over Zoom. The recount is expected to take place in the weeks ahead. 

The margin between Kusmierczyk, who had served as the riding’s MP since 2019, and Conservative candidate Kathy Borrelli was 77 votes — just seven shy of triggering an automatic recount based on the total number of votes cast in the April 28, 2025, election.

Jeff Hewitt, a lawyer representing Kusmierczyk at Friday’s court hearing, cited more than a dozen affidavits from scrutineers for his campaign who had witnessed ballots be rejected that they say were valid.

Some of those included ballots where the voter had marked an X in the circle next to Kusmierczyk’s name, but had also made additional markings – such as a checkmark next to or a circle around his name.

Since the legal teams did not have access to the rejected ballots themselves, scrutineers recreated the markings on replica ballots to illustrate them to the court.

Hewitt argued that the intention of the voter was clear in those cases, and that the ballots did not contain any information that would identify the voter, which would spoil the ballot under Canadian election rules. 

The law stipulates that a judge should order a recount if it appears that, based on an affidavit from a credible witness, “an election officer has incorrectly counted or rejected any ballots” or has made an error on the statement of the vote. Hewitt argued that both had occurred in the riding.

WATCH | A Windsor-Essex riding’s election result is being challenged. How would a judicial recount work?

A Windsor-Essex riding’s election result is being challenged. How would a judicial recount work?

Eli Mogil, a lawyer for Borrelli, also participated in the hearing and did not take issue with any of Hewitt’s arguments. 

“I respect the order by Justice Ross [Macfarlane] for a recount of the ballots,” Borrelli said in an emailed statement. “My team will cooperate fully in all that is required.”

Mogil and the judge discussed the timing of the recount, which Mogil said, based on a draft recount order, will conclude in the days before Parliament returns on May 26.

Mogil said because both parties are dealing with recounts in other ridings next week, the actual recounting of the ballots in Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore will likely take place the following week, which starts May 20.