Saint John Harbour voter cast 2 ballots in tight election, new affidavit says

Recently filed court documents reveal Elections New Brunswick officials called police on Dec. 3 about suspected voter fraud in the hotly contested riding of Saint John Harbour.

Liberal MLA Gerry Lowe won the riding by 10 votes in the Sept. 24 provincial election, defeating PC candidate Barry Ogden.

It was the tightest race in the province and subsequently played a pivotal role in the fight for power between the PCs and Liberals.

Allegations of voting improprieties have triggered a five-month legal battle between Ogden's legal team and Elections NB.

Police called Dec. 3

The affidavit filed Jan. 24 with the Court of Queen's Bench by municipal returning officer Patti Nason describes how one elector voted by special ballot and then allegedly cast a second ballot three days later on election day.

The alleged fraud went undetected by poll workers on Sept. 24 because the special ballot wasn't recorded until Sept. 21 at 3:13 p.m. after the data for the list of electors had already been collected and inputinto the computers at the polling stations.

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David Owens, the assistant chief electoral officer, reported the information to Saint John police over two months after the election, according to the document.

Police returned the call later the same day, and Owens spoke to "an Officer Weeber who advised a file number had been assigned, the matter had been referred to the fraud unit, and Mr. Owens would receive a telephone call from another officer."

As of Jan. 24, according to the affidavit, Elections NB hadn'treceived a followup call from the Saint John police.

'God is testing me'

Ogden said his reaction was one of "disbelief" when he was notified Feb. 4 that Elections NB had reported the alleged voter fraud to police.

"It's very stressful. the only recourse the judge has is to declare the election null and void and have a byelection," he said.

"I would never give up ... I think we have an opportunity here to correct the system. It is extremely frustrating that Elections NB has let this go on for five months.

"Sometimes I think God is testing me. I'm ready to write the exam."

Lowe said he was made aware of the affidavit through his lawyer.

"Elections NB has given it to the local police, and I think that's the right thing to do," Lowe said.

"I don't have anything to do with it and I'm sure that Barry had nothing to do with it I personally know absolutely nothing about it. I didn't try to get anybody to vote twice."

Under Section 107 of the provincial Elections Act, anyone who "having voted once at an election, applies to vote again at the same election is guilty of the corrupt practice of impersonation."

Police did not respond to a request for comment on the status of the investigation.

The court challenge on the vote in Saint John Harbour resumes Saturday in the Court of Queen's Bench.