There is evidence suggesting that dozens of errors may have been made by Elections New Brunswick officials in the riding of Saint John Harbour during this year’s provincial election, so much so that the police are now involved.
The Liberals won the riding by a mere 10 votes and the matter remains before the courts over alleged voting irregularities.
Municipal returning officer Patti Nason was tasked with looking into about 8,000 documents related to the riding of Saint John Harbour. An official recount confirmed Liberal Gerry Lowe as the winner, but the Tories have alleged voting irregularities including that some people may have voted twice.
READ MORE: Judge dismisses motion to remove Saint John lawyer from alleged voting irregularities case
Nason’s review highlights a special ballot entry made Sept. 21 with the same elector number coming up again on Election Day. That matter has been referred to Saint John Police for further investigation.
But that’s far from all. Nason points to cases where voters resided in a different electoral district but were struck off as votes in Saint John Harbour at the riding returning office, although she cannot factually determine whether these certain electors actually voted in Saint John Harbour.
There are dozens of other examples where all processes do not appear to have been completed, and that certain elector numbers were not struck off.
WATCH: N.B. Election 2018: Saint John Harbour up for grabs
Elections NB’s Scrutineer Information document says the Voters List Officer will locate the name of the elector. It says “once the name is found, the elector will be struck off as voting.”
There has been no indication these apparent errors had any impact on the election results. Elections NB has referred any inquiries to Saint John Police.
MLA Gerry Lowe doesn’t believe he or opponent Barry Ogden did anything wrong, but is concerned with Elections NB and alleged errors made.
“I think they’re made in every riding throughout the province,” said Lowe. “I mean they bring these people in and train them for a short period of time and throw them into work ,and they pay them $150 for the day and that’s it.”
READ MORE: Hearing into alleged voting irregularities in Saint John Harbour halted
Ogden says he’s frustrated with the inability to obtain information.
“I’m hoping that we can solve our voting problems that exist so that everybody can trust that their vote counts,” he said.
The Nason affidavit will likely feature prominently when the matter returns before the courts Saturday morning.
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