Would Lester get a recount even if he applies for one?

An interesting decision from the District Court in 2016 when it was asked to do a recount in the Dunstan constituency of Otago Regional Council by the candidate who just missed out by 5 votes.

Judge Kellar turned down the application, as he ruled there merely being a close result is not grounds enough. The applicant has to have reasons as to why the result may be incorrect.

Closeness of the voting by itself does not provide reasonable grounds to believe that the declaration is incorrect and that on a recount the applicant might be elected.

So merely saying “Hey maybe they missed a few votes” is not good enough. You need to point to a specific issue around the ballot and count.

With Lester 62 votes behind Foster, I think he would have a very hard time convincing a court to do a recount.