The City of Cambridge spent more than $45,000 to hold a second Catholic trustee election last November.
The city released the cost this week after CambridgeToday submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request, which also asked for a review the city commissioned in the aftermath of the election error.
City clerk Danielle Manton discovered the names of two candidates were left off the ballot two days before the general election Oct. 24.
The discovery forced her to declare an emergency, suspend voting and begin organizing a second election for the Waterloo Catholic District School Board a month later.
A commissioned review of what happened, completed by consultant Kris Fletcher, was filed with the city last spring but was never tabled at council.
In response to the FOI, Manton said the review's findings and how much it cost are unavailable for public review pending a court case filed by failed Ward 3 candidate Nate Whalen in January that questions various aspects of the general election.
The costs were not released due to the potential financial harms their release could cause, according to the city.
Manton says because of Whalen's case, the city doesn't have custody or control of Fletcher's review and therefore can't release it to the public.
Only 5.7 per cent of eligible voters in Cambridge cast a ballot in the second election the city organized for local Catholic board trustees.
A total of 3,216 votes were cast, 1,144 of which were cast online.
The Oct. 24 general election cost city taxpayers $612,000.
Whalen filed his court case challenging the election's integrity in January, citing technical issues with the online voting system and a long list of "irregularities" in a motion to the Ontario Superior Court.
Whalen's case won't be heard until next month.
Contacted in June about the city's refusal to release the election review because of his court challenge, Whalen told CambridgeToday he doesn't believe it's an adequate excuse for not releasing a consultant's review paid for with taxpayer money.
"There is nothing precluding the city from releasing their report prior to the court case being resolved, other than for reputational purposes," Whalen said in an email.
