No fraud found in Gasp where ballot box 61 recorded only votes for the Liberals

Elections Qubec says there was no attempt at fraud when it comes ballot box 61 a box from the Gasp riding which was recorded as containing nothing butvotes for the Liberal Party on Oct. 1.

A recount was called in Gasp following last October's provincial election, after the unusual ballot-box outcome was noted in a race in which the Liberal candidate had squeaked by.

Parti Qubcois candidateMganne Perry-Mlanon was ultimately declared the winner, bumping the toppled Liberals down to 29 seats and gaining her beleagueredparty one more seat in the National Assembly.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Chief Elections Officer Pierre Reid says there was noinfraction of the Elections Act in Gasp, or anywhere else in the province,for that matter.

"There is usually at least one recount at each election, but this is the first time since 1976 that such a count has reversed the election of a candidate," said Reid.

The initial results raised doubts about the integrity of the counting process, he said, but the investigation found no attempt to deceive.

A dozen investigators met more than 150 people in the Gasp riding, including the returning officer, assistants, members of the electoral staff and all candidates.

They concluded that staff did count the votes for each candidatebut failed to properly record the results. They determinedthis was not a error made in bad faith.

As a result of the recount, 49 of the 132 votes in the electoral district were corrected. These corrections did not have an impact on the outcome of the election, except in the case ofballot box 61.

The investigation found that the errors stemmed mainly from a misunderstanding of the rules, anda lack of uniformity in staff trainingis likely to blame, according to the statement.

In each constituency, some 400 election workers must be hired and trained in a short time, and thattraining remains a challenge, Elections Qubec said.

In a tweet Tuesday, Perry-Mlanon said she is pleased that the investigation revealed a need to improve training in the days leading up an election.