Councillor's wife accused of voting on behalf of seniors

A small-town councillor's wife is accused of voting on behalf of at least six other people in an election that a Nova Scotia judgehas been asked to overturn.

Eleven residents of Stewiacke, N.S. which has a population of less than 1,500 have filed documents in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia alleging voting irregularities and seeking a new chance to choose their elected representatives.

The documents claim specifically that Judy Stoddart, who is married to Coun. Russell Stoddart, voted on behalf of several residents without the proper paperwork.

"My understanding is someone voted [on behalf of] the seniors, and hence the seniors don't know exactly how they voted," Pam Osborne, who lost the mayoral race, said Thursday.

The documents allege Judy Stoddart voted electronically or by telephone in the name of at least six people.

The court application, however, doesn't provide anyevidence to substantiate the allegations. It doessay two witnesses will file affidavits about the voting.

Stoddart declined to comment when contacted by CBC News. She denied the allegations in a notice of contest filed to court this month.

Resident says something 'went wrong'

One of the applicants, Audrey Armsworthy, said she too had heard that senior citizens were involved in the alleged voting irregularities.

"There are too many residents that say there was something that went wrong," said Armsworthy, who also lost a race.

"I just think that there should be an investigation done."

'Extremely close election'

The group has asked the court to declare the Oct. 15 election void and order the town to hold a new one.

"Until a thorough investigation is done ... I really don't think the town can rest. It's divided anyway," said Osborne, who lost by 14 votes.

"The results speak for themselves. It was an extremely close election."

Bigger issue, advocate says

The case whether or not these allegations are true raises a bigger issue about electronic voting for seniors, according to Bill VanGorder, an advocate with the Canadian Association of Retired Persons.

Many towns, villages and municipalities in Nova Scotia have added electronic and telephone voting in an effort to make voting easier, cheaper and more efficient. Some, though not Stewiacke, have ditched paper ballots outright.

'Very trusting' seniors

VanGorder argued the technology may help people already tapped into social networks and the internet, but is "unfair" to seniors unfamiliar with the methods.

"They're going to be much more vulnerable and if people want to take advantage, then there's a really good chance that they will," he said.

"Atlantic Canadians for the most part, especially seniors, are very trusting people, so they don't expect people to perpetrate this kind of thing on their behalf or to them.

"So there's a high likelihood that if somebody attempts to take advantage of seniors in this way and in fact steal their voting privileges they'll be able to get away with it."

'They need to have a voice'

Osborne said the lawyer leading the charge, Robert Pineo, told her she had to be on one side or the other, based on the Municipal Government Act's guidelines around election review applications.

"I truly only want the truth to come out. I didn't want to be involved with this at all," Osborne said.

"But once residents started asking questions, I truly believe and I always had that they need to have a voice."

Fourteen people, including the current mayor, sitting councillors and the municipal returning officer, are named in the application. They're due for a hearing on Feb. 8 in Truro.

Neither Pineo nor the lawyer for the town replied to interview requests.

Read the court documents.

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