The numbers are out. But that hardly means the results of the recently concluded Downtown Barrie byelection are valid now, the BIA’s lawyer says.

On Feb. 18, the BIA board released data on the unofficial results from the byelection that wrapped up on Jan. 24. That information shows 190 votes were cast – about 38 per cent of BIA membership. Jason Ing (153), Daniela Fuda (141), Rob Hamilton (137), Paul Lynch (133), Colin Hassey (132) and Cait Patrick (128) finished with the most votes, while 12 others finished with between 31 and four.

A Feb. 6 memorandum from Barriston LLP lawyers Jacklyn Tuckey and Jim McIntosh had called the process "tainted" and recommended the BIA throw out the byelection results and have a new round of voting, following a complaint over about 180 potential proxy votes cast by individuals seeking election to the board.

After further review, it seems 133 votes were actually cast by proxy. Of those, somewhere between 40 and 64 may be deemed ineligible, the data shows.

While those ineligible ballots would not appear to alter the final list of winners, Barriston’s legal opinion stands.

“The memorandum was prepared on the narrow issue of whether or not proxy votes were permitted at all and, if so, under what circumstances,” McIntosh told Simcoe.com on Feb. 19. “In subsequent discussions with BIA staff, it was clarified that ... approximately 133 were proxy votes. The details regarding the number of proxy votes cast in the election were not updated to reflect the actual numbers. It makes no difference to the legal advice and opinion provided.”

Ballots were cast on behalf of specific people, despite the fact the BIA constitution does not “contemplate the appointment of proxies by individual voting members.”

Malicious intent or not, this could be seen as comparable to ballot stuffing.

“The board believes all candidates acted in good faith with the information and clarification provided,” the board said in a Feb. 18 statement on the BIA website. “The board’s focus is to have a fair and transparent election process that our membership can trust. People need to have faith in elections and the results either way should never be in question. We are confident that … we can correct any issues with the election process and the BIA constitution going forward. Overall, we are committed to moving ahead with our mandate to serve our members and improve our downtown focused on making it a safe, vibrant and beautiful place.”

Some proxy votes were also handed in on behalf of corporate BIA members, though that is permissible under the organization’s governing rules.