Rustad wants to protect the electoral process in British Columbia
British Columbia’s official opposition leader, John Rustad is calling for an independent review of Elections BC and BC’s Elections Act so that in elections “going forward people can have full confidence that they’re conducted properly, and that there’s nothing that goes on that shouldn’t go on,” Rustad said in a press conference in Victoria on January 9.
His call for a review came after he learned of, and the party investigated, 45 “irregularities” in the Surrey-Guildford riding during October’s provincial election.
There have been many people who have brought forward a tremendous amount of information about the election, Rustad said, adding that he didn’t say anything earlier because he didn’t want to add to rumour or conspiracy theories. He wanted to make sure they were dealing with facts.
“Our democracy is important in this province. We need to be able to have confidence in the results. We need to have confidence in how business is conducted in the province by governments,” he said.
Since October, the BC Conservatives have been looking into several issues that have come up, including rumours that non-citizens were voting; double voting; and cases where someone went to vote but learned that someone else had already voted using their name.
Rustad said that the most disturbing things he heard occurred in Surrey-Guildford.
Two-dozen ballots were cast by people whose place of residence registered with Elections BC is not where they currently live. There’s another serious issue associated with a senior’s care facility where mail-in ballots were cast, but the voting station was located across the street.
Individuals in that facility have come forward with affidavits about what happened in that facility, he said.
“There is a concern that a third party has come in and been involved in how these votes were cast. It’s a serious concern that needs to be looked into.”
Another serious concern Rustad alleges is that Elections BC staff were not checking that people are Canadian citizens before registering them to vote.
Because of these and other issues, Rustad hopes that the NDP will be on board with his decision to call for an independent Commission of Inquiry, lead by a senior justice of the Supreme Court to review the election.
“We need to look at not just these irregularities, but also how the election was conducted by Elections BC. The fact that they weren’t checking if people have Canadian citizenship.”
He is also concerned about the changes to the Elections Act that were made in 2019 when David Eby was Attorney General, including the addition of phone-in ballots.
To help prevent this issue in future elections, Rustad recommends that all government-issued photo ID in British Columbia have a C on it, denoting the bearers Canadian citizenship.
It would be a way for Elections BC “to make sure people who vote are Canadian citizens, to protect the electoral process in British Columbia.”
While the party isn’t taking any legal action, only making recommendations at this time, Honveer Singh Randhawa, the BC Conservative Party candidate in Surrey-Guildford who was defeated by 22 votes, is going ahead with a court challenge.
Randhawa plans to file a petition in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, under section 150 of the Elections Act, to declare the election in Surrey-Guildford invalid.
“Justice must be done, and democracy must prevail,” Randhawa said.
In addition to the independent review, Rustad called for a 90-day amnesty from prosecution for anyone who comes forward with information relating to irregularities in the October election.
“It’s important to have these penalties suspended so people can come forward and we can fix these problems,” Rustad said.
“That’s why I’m asking for an independent review of Elections BC itself and the way it conducted the election. To be able to make sure if there are problems and issues – and of the Elections Act – to look at strengthening the electoral process in British Columbia.
“The goal is to enhance and protect the democratic process in British Columbia.”