Saint John Harbour MLA Gerry Lowe outside the Saint John Law Courts on July 31st, 2019. (photo by Tamara Steele)
Closing arguments continued on Wednesday at a trial relating to alleged voting irregularities in Saint John Harbour during the 2018 provincial election.
Liberal candidate Gerry Lowe defeated PC candidate Barry Ogden by 10 votes.
Lowe’s lawyer Tim McLaughlin says there is no evidence of a failure to follow procedure.
Justice Hugh McLellan asked if eight non-residents voted in the riding.
McLaughlin says we can assume that happened but even if they did, the magic number is still 10.
He says there are cases where someone wrote a number down wrong but it’s not a breach of election procedure.
Fred McElman, representing Elections New Brunswick, described the case as a balance of probabilities.
He says the evidence does not support that voters intentionally voted somewhere they were not supposed to.
Outside court, Gerry Lowe was asked by reporters about the costs he’s incurred in this matter and who might pay his legal bills, he or the Liberal party.
“That’s questionable right now. It’s not my cost. Am I going to pay part of it? I’m not sure. It was brought against us and I was lucky enough to get the two lawyers I got.” Lowe said.
Lowe also said he’s looking forward to this being over.
“I do the job of an MLA. I have an office in Saint John and I’m trying to solve problems and all the time you are trying to defend the job you are trying to do. I just want it over with one way or the other.” Lowe said.
No Trust In The Process
Ogden’s lawyers Kelly VanBuskirk and Matthew Letson offered rebuttal Wednesday afternoon to McLaughlin and O’Neill’s arguments.
They claim there were several voting irregularities such as wrong addresses, duplicate ballots, and more than 20 people casting double votes.
In one case, VanBuskirk points out a vote was cast by an individual who gave an address that didn’t exist, and several more who voted from outside the district.
Letson said the main issue at stake is not about irregular votes, but about compliance to procedures outlined in the Elections Act, which they argue was not followed and likely had an impact on the result of the election.
VanBuskirk says 18 of 21 “double voters” got two voting tokens, and two bio records showing they got ballots. He says this is simply not allowed under the Elections Act, showing that procedures weren’t followed.
VanBuskirk also stated that although there were double sets of the paper voting records, there is no evidence showing they were ever reconciled with electronic records, something they call “a real problem.”
While Lowe’s lawyer McLaughlin said “clerical errors” and a lack of training are likely the cause of the duplicate numbers, Ogden’s lawyer Kelly VanBuskirk said even one clerical mistake should mean the entire process can’t be trusted.
Ogden himself says he didn’t expect the trial to take this long. He believes that no matter the decision, there is an obvious need for reforms in the election process.
“We definitely need major, major changes, and its too bad that it took this long for an arm of the government to recognize that, because Elections NB is an arm of the government, and I guess that’s what upsetting,” he said.
Justice McLellan is expected to deliver his decision at the end of August.
With files from Danielle McCreadie and Tamara Steele.
