Kevin O’Leary wants the Conservative Party of Canada to recount the ballots that were cast in the recent leadership contest.

“I see no reason we should not have a recount,” the former Conservative leadership candidate said.

“There are a relatively few number of votes to count and I am sure that no leader of the Conservative party wants to start a new mandate under a vote count cloud.”

In phone interview, O’Leary told iPolitics that a recount could clear the air and solidify Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer’s mandate.

“This is not healthy. We should be talking about policy to defeat Trudeau in 2019 not account of the membership votes, and because the vote membership amount is small, it’s a small amount of votes, it would be better just to do the recount, shine the light of transparency and move on,” said O’Leary.

While the physical ballots have been destroyed, O’Leary said there are digital images the party could review. He also said the party should re-examine the policy of destroying ballots after votes.

O’Leary said he has not talked to runner-up Maxime Bernier about whether there should be a recount.

“I would prefer that you be talking to the party about policy, not about election results which is in the past,” said O’Leary, adding that it shouldn’t matter who initially raised the issue of voting discrepancies. “The fact that it’s being debated is not healthy.”

“I’m supportive of party, I’m supportive of Andrew Scheer. I don’t think he wants, this, the party doesn’t want it, the members don’t want it,” said O’Leary.

O’Leary’s comments come after CTV reported on apparent discrepancies in the final count of ballots cast in the Conservative party leadership contest. The party tallied 141,362 ballots, and records from its Constituent Information Management System (CIMS) database show that only 133,896 members voted.

Following the initial story, members of Bernier’s campaign team called on the party to explain the discrepancy.

Conservative party President Scott Lamb told the Globe and Mail that the election was fair and the results would stand. “Elections are decided and verified and complete, and people can speculate about them all they want. But it was an audited, final result,” he told the Globe.

O’Leary pulled out of the race to throw his support behind Bernier, then the front-runner. Bernier told the Globe that he wants “answers from the party.”

“I think members have a right to know what happened and why there is a difference between the numbers of votes,” Bernier said.

Not everyone who ran is complaining. “Based on my team’s experience with the leadership election, I am very confident that the process was run fairly,” said former leadership candidate and Tory MP Erin O’Toole in a statement provided to iPolitics.

“I am also very proud that our Conservative Party leadership selection engaged more Canadians than any other in our country’s history and leaves us strong from coast to coast.

“I stand 100 per cent behind our leader Andrew Scheer and want to keep our members focused on the battle that lies ahead: defeating the Liberals in 2019 before they do more damage to our economy, our social fabric and the prosperity and wellbeing of future generations.”