Update: Election Fraud Legal Cases

Council of Canadians.

Tories attack Council of Canadians’ involvement in election fraud court cases In the latest twist of the election fraud scandal, lawyers representing the Conservative MPs from the seven ridings involved in the citizen-led legal challenges to overturn election results have filed motions to throw out the cases. The initial legal skirmishes are now underway, and important developments are expected before the end of June. The Council of Canadians is supporting court challenges to overturn election results by nine electors who allege that they received a fraudulent call advising them of a change in their polling location, that these calls were made to other electors, and that this lowered the voter turnout to a degree that affected the outcome of the election. Several affidavits have been filed in support of these applications, including one from Frank Graves of EKOS Research, whose firm surveyed voters and concluded that there were a large number of fraudulent calls in each of the seven ridings and that they were targeted at supporters of the NDP, Liberals and Greens. EKOS estimates that between 0.8% and 2.2% of the total eligible voters in the seven ridings were successfully dissuaded from voting as a direct result of these misleading calls. The response of the Conservative Party of Canada has been to file numerous procedural motions, including to allege that the challenges are untimely and “without merit.” The most recent motion citesthe little-used legal doctrine of “champerty and maintenance,” meant to prevent frivolous litigation from outside parties with no interest in a case. With the motion, Conservative Party lawyers filed a scurrilous attack on the Council of Canadians that is more than 750 pages in length. On June 25, the Court will consider the Conservative Party motions and the applicants’ responses. “The strategy of the Conservative Party lawyers is clearly to try to divert attention away from the fraudulent voter suppression activity, delay the process and drive up the legal costs,” said Garry Neil, Executive Director of the Council of Canadians. Election fraud cannot go unchallenged Defending our democracy is difficult and expensive, but it’s something we must do. Even with the generous contribution of the law firm, the bills for the legal work and expenses to support the court challenges are expected to reach $240,000 by the end of June. Canadians have been extremely generous with their support for the Council’s Democracy 24/7 fundraising campaign. We thank everyone who has contributed. With only a few weeks to go, we are almost half-way to our fundraising target, and your support is needed now, more than ever. Please consider making a donation today and add your support to the fight for democracy in Canada. Visit our website to donate to the Democracy 24/7 Legal Fund and to see all the latest updates on our fight for democratic rights in Canada. You can also contact us by e-mail at inquiries@canadians.org, or call us toll free at 1-800-387-7177.