NOVA.SCOTIA (CBC) - The Liberal candidate in the provincial byelection in Inverness has applied for a count after he lost by 50 votes last week.

Ian McNeil said it was a close election and many people had been asking about the possibility of a recount.

"I thought the margin was significant but people who know elections and the processes better than me have suggested that it would be worth checking," he said Monday.

Progresssive Conservative Allan MacMaster, an investment adviser and former assistant to former premier Rodney MacDonald, won the district with 3,155 votes to McNeil's 3,105.

New Democrat Bert Lewis took 2,342 votes, and Nathalie Arsenault of the Green Party trailed with 223 votes.

"It's an effort at transparency," McNeil said. "It's just to clarify the results, to make sure that it is 50 votes."

McNeil said a judge would look at his request and decide on a recount on Nov. 12.