CORNWALL, Ontario – After hours of delays Jim Bancroft was announced Monday night (almost Tuesday morning) as the new mayor-elect in South Stormont.
Bancroft defeated Bryan McGillis, a long-time mayor in the township, by a count of 2,813 to 2,219.
Tammy Hart (2,123 votes) kept her job as deputy mayor, dumping challengers Cindy Woods (1,531) and Ray Beauregard (1,361).
Council slots will be filled by Donna Primeau, Richard Waldroff and David Smith.
The campaign in South Stormont was marked by several personal exchanges and lots of vitriol.
There were huge problems reporting election results in a pair of townships bordering Cornwall, incuding South Stormont and South Glengarry.
Over in South Glengarry Ian McLeod will remain mayor, defeating Dave McDonald 2,767-1,608.
Frank Prevost was easily re-elected deputy mayor, while councillor spots were taken up by Trevor Bougie, Joyce Gravelle and Lyle Warden.
In South Stormont people were streaming out of the township hall, many openly voicing their frustration at having to wait until after 11 p.m. for results that were still not available.
“Please be advised that we are waiting on final numbers from our service provider, who are in the process of verifying the results of the online and telephone voting,” South Stormont said at about 10 p.m. on its Facebook page. “We will post results as soon as they become available.“
What followed was an onslaught of complaints from residents.
Likewise over at South Glengarry. It was after midnight when that township finally released unofficial results.
