Chase mayoral candidate sues village, demands new election

Just 11 votes separated the current mayor and the second place candidate, and Iglesias says this means every vote was critical. Iglesias finished third in the race, with 56 votes fewer than Mayor Rod Crowe.

Iglesias says residents may also have been confused as to which election they could vote in, considering there was one race for the municipal election, one for the Thompson-Nicola Regional District director, and the third for school trustee. Residents in the Village of Chase boundary could only vote in the municipal and trustee elections.

“The successful mayoralty candidate’s sign(s) were placed on at least one property at (a property on)… Adams Lake Indian Band,” Iglesias claims.

She alleges that another of the candidate’s signs was placed on the roadway leading to the Adams Lake Indian Band Reserve, and says these instances could have misled reserve residents to believe they were eligible to vote in the municipal election.

Iglesias is asking the court to declare the Village of Chase Municipal Election invalid and that another election must be held to fill all positions for that office that were open. She adds that a petition has been circulating around the municipality in support of her application.

The Village of Chase and elections officer Sean O’Flaherty are named as defendants in the case, and have been in contact with a lawyer.

IGLESIAS, MAYOR AND ELECTIONS OFFICER REACT TO LAWSUIT

CFJC Today went to Chase today, to get reaction from Iglesias, Mayor Rod Crowe and O’Flaherty.

“Being a 25-year veteran in real estate, I know my streets and addresses,” Iglesias said. “So maybe there should be better checks and balances in place for the next election. And having a voters list on hand could have helped. So these people coming to a polling station, to a table, the onus is on them whether or not they can vote. But there is no way for the polling clerks to check if their address is within the village boundary.”

Despite Iglesias asking for the court to deem the election invalid, O’Flaherty says that’s not the case.

“Bev isn’t contesting the election, the election process, the legislation, the election officials or any of its staff,” O’Flaherty clarifies. “She’s specifically identifying some individuals that have allegedly misrepresented themselves as eligible voters.”

Involved previously as part of Merritt’s city staff, and being the Corporate Officer for Chase since 2016, O’Flaherty knows cases such as this are not a regular occurrence.

“I mean elections only happen every four years anyways, and then to have some sort of challenge on an election is even more rare,” he explains. “So this isn’t common municipal business at all.”

He says while officials do provide the voting materials — and run the election process — it’s up to the voters to be honest and factual when they cast their ballots.

“Really the onus is on the voter to declare their eligibility to vote; the onus is not on the election officials,” he says. “The conduct of the election officials is not one of the claims in the petition as far as we can tell.”

Rod Crowe is the newly elected mayor, and says some of the ineligible voters listed were likely the result of address typos, or residents simply misunderstanding where the voting boundary lies.

“I don’t think anybody set out to intentionally try to come and vote, I think there were perhaps a few errors, but I think in the end run, I feel pretty confident that the election will stand.”

Crowe says when speaking with O’Flaherty, he realized one of his neighbours was listed as one of the invalid votes as the correct number was not included in his address.

“I asked him what the name of the resident was and he told me, and I said ‘oh for God’s sake, that’s my next door neighbour.’ And so there’s that name, which I’m sure a judge would say that name counts — he’s lived there a couple of years.”

If having a new election is necessary, O’Flaherty says it would cost taxpayers close to $15,000, which in a community the size of Chase, would mean about a one per cent tax increase.

Despite the relief sought in the lawsuit asking for a new election as quickly as possible, Iglesias says that is not her end goal. Iglesias did not seek any financial damages in the claim.

“People really have to understand this is not about me being a ‘sore loser’,” she stresses. “I just feel an injustice is done, and I’d like some accountability from our administration, our electoral officer, and our whole system. Let’s not let this happen again.”

by Ashley Legassic

Chase mayoral candidate sues village, demands new election

IGLESIAS, MAYOR AND ELECTIONS OFFICER REACT TO LAWSUIT

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