A BC Conservative candidate who lost his race in October’s provincial election by just 22 votes claims he has new evidence of “irregularities” in the election.
Honveer Singh Randhawa was narrowly defeated by NDP Public Safety Minister Gary Begg in Surrey-Guildford, a tight contest that required a judicial recount to settle.
The outcome of that race was consequential, giving the NDP 47 seats in the legislature, the bare minimum for a majority government.
Earlier this year, Randhawa filed a legal challenge seeking to have the result declared invalid, and on Tuesday, he alleged he had uncovered more evidence of “irregularities and misconduct.”
Randhawa’s lawyer said Elections BC confirmed that one person ordered mail-in ballots on behalf of 22 residents of Argyll Lodge, a mental health facility.
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He claimed there was no way to be sure those people actually filled out their own ballots.
“This is not a mere irregularity,” said Sunny Uppal, Randhawa’s lawyer.
“This is a situation in which one individual ordered 22 mail-in ballots on behalf of vulnerable individuals, and there was no checks and balances in place to ensure that those individuals were not being used as a tool of election fraud.”
Randhawa also claims to have found 10 people who say they voted in the riding, despite not living there.
He claimed the irregularities constitute multiple violations of the Elections Act.
“Very notable is at the time of the judicial recount, this information was not in front of the judge who was conducting the judicial recount,” he said.
In his own response to the suit, filed in February, Begg claimed police warned a BC Conservative operative to stay away from Argyll Lodge in the wake of the election, after the woman allegedly got residents to sign statements “they could neither read nor understand.”
Begg’s response claims the woman actually got one resident to move out of the facility, and police found him in a state of “psychosis” after he was reported missing.
The BC Conservative party is not taking part in the legal challenge, however Leader John Rustad has previously said he hopes the outcome will reveal some of the “too many loopholes” in the system.
Global News is seeking comment from Elections BC.
In May, chief electoral officer Anton Boegman acknowledged the case, said he “does not want to presuppose” what is going to happen in court, but said overall the election was “free, fair and secure.”
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