It may have taken a few extra hours to become official, but Ed Penner is in fact the new councillor for Ward Four in the Rural Municipality of Hanover.

After the final votes had been tallied Wednesday night, Penner came out on top of incumbent Councillor John Giesbrecht by a count of 319 to 279.

Hanover Senior Election Official Lois Gresiuk informed us Thursday morning that Giesbrecht had asked for a recount because of the narrow margin of victory. That recount was completed Thursday afternoon.

Gresiuk says the margin of victory ended up being a touch closer than what was originally announced but that Penner still had more votes. The final tally was Penner with 319 votes and Giesbrecht with 283 votes.