Quick response to fraud allegations was necessary

Update: On Friday (Oct. 12), Surrey RCMP stated that 67 of the requests for mail-in ballots were found to be fraudulent. As of yet, there has been no links of the attemped fraud to any civic slate, and no charges have been laid.
Surrey RCMP and the City of Surrey’s election officials have moved swiftly to deal with an attempt to interfere with the upcoming municipal election.

Wake Up Surrey, an organization founded earlier this year to pressure governments to deal with the ongoing incidents of murder, gang warfare and drive-by shootings made the issue public on Sept. 28. The organization said that as many as 15,000 people could have been approached to request mail-in ballots, which would then be filled in by others in an attempt to throw the election.

Wake Up Surrey said it “learned of vote buying offers in the South Asian community which is another attempt to suppress registered voters and undermine our democratic process.”

This crude type of election interference is almost unknown in Canadian politics, although it is practised in some other countries.

Wake Up Surrey’s quick reaction to and publicizing of this scheme is laudable. It alerted those who need to know at a very important time in the process, about three weeks before election day.

Surrey’s chief election officer  Anthony Capuccinello Iraci said that there were some suspicions even before Wake Up Surrey made its concerns known. A total of 160 requests for mail-in ballots had been received and all are being reviewed. No mail-in ballots had been mailed out and the city is now requiring anyone who requests one to come in to city hall to pick it up, and produce proper identification. That alone will do a great deal to stop any potential election fraud.

The RCMP has begun an investigation and is prioritizing it, due the rapidly-approaching election date.

“We need to have a fair, transparent election,” said Sukhi Sandhu of Wake Up Surrey. “We feel it’s our moral duty to inform the RCMP and Elections BC.”

Municipal elections are grassroots democracy. They are much more of a “free for all” contest than any provincial or federal election. That’s why there are 84 candidates on the three Surrey ballots for mayor, councillor and school trustee.

There are candidates from 10 different slates running, and a good number of independents. Campaign financing rules have been changed significantly, and there isn’t nearly as much money available to the major slates as has been the case.

All of these factors can lead to slates and candidates trying to use different tactics. There is nothing wrong with trying innovative concepts to obtain votes. However, these concepts must be within legal bounds.

Buying votes is never legal and is abhorrent to almost all Canadians. Any such attempts need to be nipped in the bud.

The efforts now underway to stop this attempt at election fraud are necessary and are vital to ensure that this particular election is free and fair. The city and the RCMP need to ensure that their investigation efforts are speedy. Surrey residents need to be kept up-to-date on the investigation as the election cycle continues.

For all its flaws, democracy is far too precious a commodity to be toyed with in such a cavalier manner.

Surrey RCMP say the results of their investigation will be made public before the election date of Oct. 20. Meanwhile, candidates feel like they are in a state of limbo, with this hanging like a pall over the whole election.