Former Hutt City deputy mayor rules out recount after losing council seat by six votes

A Hutt City councillor has edged her closest rival by six votes.

A former deputy mayor has ruled out seeking a recount despite losing out on a council seat by only six votes.

Roger Styles was running as an independent in the Eastern Ward of the Hutt City Council, along with Lisa Bridson and Glenda Barratt.

Bridson was elected with 2412 votes, and Barratt will be joining her after beating out Styles by the extremely slim margin of six votes.

Barratt received 2073 votes compared to 2067 for Styles. Four votes for the ward's councillors were "informal", meaning they were filled out incorrectly, and 111 were left blank.

Styles told the Herald he would not seek a recount, saying "s*** happens ... that's the way it goes".

"Sometimes you get the odd tight vote, but I don't really mind, it's all good."

The votes were counted twice by Hutt City electoral staff, and Bruce Hodgins told the Herald he went down to Christchurch himself to do a third count, and he was "extremely comfortable" that the result was accurate.

Hodgins said it was up to a candidate to decide if they wanted to appeal for a recount.