Residents of  District 3 (Dartmouth South-Eastern Passage) will know next week whether incumbent Bill Karsten or fellow incumbent Jackie Barkhouse won last month’s municipal election.

Justice Kevin Cody decided he will recount the votes Nov. 28 to make a final decision on who won in the Oct. 20 Halifax Regional Municipal Election.

“I believe in my heart I won the election,” Karsten told reporters following the judge’s decision.

Karsten said, while he anticipated the ruling, he is concerned that District 3 is without representation until the matter is settled.

“It’s so frustrating knowing that you won, I have people calling me on a daily basis, looking for help, needing help with their issues,” he told reporters. “Not being able to help is really quiet frustrating. I’ve got probably about 35-40 files on my desk right now that need my attention and I have no official capacity to look after them.”

Former MLA Don Chard, who lived in the district filed an application for a judicial recount after the number of votes cast in the district were exceptionally close. There was some concern that the application was not filed in a timely matter or that it was frivolous. The judge disagreed with both arguments.

“I’m feeling happy that the judge ruled the way he did,” said Barkhouse. “What’s important about today is that now the residents of District 3 will actually get to find out what the actual numbers were.”

Barkhouse was declared the winner by six votes on election night. The initial result showed Barkhouse won with 41 per cent (3,352 votes), while Karsten took 40.9 per cent (3,346 votes).

A judicial review was held Oct. 23 concluding naming Karsten the winner by 68 votes (Karsten 3,321, Barkhouse 3,253).

The count is expected to take less than a day.