Provincial election ballots from the riding of Kent in New Brunswick had to be recounted Tuesday after irregularities at a polling station.
Polling staff on the Elsipogtog First Nation ran out of ballots after large crowds showed up at the station late in the day on Monday.
Elections New Brunswick officials had planned for 600 voters to show up to the polling station on the reserve. Instead, 800 to 1,000 voters cast ballots.
"Polling officials didn't properly complete all of their tabulation and reporting sheets, forgot to call in the numbers to the returning office," said Michael Quinn, the province's chief electoral officer.
Susan Levi-Peters, the NDP candidate in the riding, is also a former chief of the Elsipogtog First Nation.
She said it wasn't just the shortage of ballots that created confusion — the polling station was too small to accommodate the turnout.
"A lot left angry, a lot just got to the door and seen the line up and left," Levi-Peters told CBC News.
"Some of them stayed for a bit and said, 'This is too much,' because they seen people walking out angry."
Kent is the riding of outgoing Liberal premier Shawn Graham. He was re-elected in his riding on Monday, but said he had no plans to run as leader in the next provincial election after his party's defeat to the Progressive Conservatives.
After the recount, Graham lost 58 votes for a new total of 3,722 votes and Progressive Conservative candidate Bruce Hickey lost 84 votes for a total of 1,720 votes.
Green Party candidate Garry Sanipass gained two votes for 215 votes and Levi-Peters gained 141 votes for a total of 1,023.
Although the outcome of the race didn't change with the recount, Levi-Peters said she was happy to see the issue addressed.
"I'm happy it's happening, and happy there's attention on this because it needs to be fixed," she said.
