A recount of ballots in a recent election in Tsiigehtchic, N.W.T., has yielded the same results, meaning Fredrick (Sonny) Blake remains the Gwich'in community's new chief.

Russell Andre, who lost the June 18 election in a tiebreaker after he and Blake candidates received 27 votes each, had contested the initial results, claiming the election process was deeply flawed.

Since the election in Tsiigehtchic was a custom election — one governed by traditional rules — neither the federal nor N.W.T. government has authority over it. Officials with the governments said Andre's only recourse would have to be through the band council or the courts.

In his appeal to the band for a recount, Andre said election staff wrongly disallowed a ballot that would have made him the winner. Andre also claimed that proxy votes were allowed for other candidates.

Andre originally threatened court action if the recount did not end up in his favour, but now says he will abandon court action and go back to school in Inuvik instead.

Tsiigehtchic is a Gwich'in community of about 200 located at the junction of the Mackenzie River and the Arctic Red River, about 100 kilometres south of Inuvik.