The B.C. Liberal Party leadership race could be tainted by voter fraud, alleges a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court.
The petition to the court, filed by party member Viramjit Singh Bajwa, suggests a membership audit must be completed. Some leadership campaigns have found 33-50% of memberships need to be examined.
The petition said a Jan. 5 letter from leadership candidates shows members with residential addresses in parking lots, on a forestry road, or sharing email or phone numbers—but at differing addresses. Some people contacted by campaigns didn’t know they were party members, the petition said.
Voting in the race began Feb. 3, with results expected Feb. 5.
The contest is to replace leader Andrew Wilkinson, who resigned after the October 2020 election. Shirley Bond has served as interim leader.
Bajwa’s petition wants the court to halt the process until an audit is completed.
On Jan. 11, a statement issued by party leadership election organizing committee co-chairs Colin Hansen and Roxanne Helm, said about 3,025 of the 43,000 active party members were flagged for further follow-up to confirm their membership information. The statement noted that this was required before they could register to vote.
However, the petition asserts a membership audit is incomplete. It asks that the court order the party to tell members how many memberships were disallowed and the reasons for that, what steps have been taken on those disallowed memberships and any conclusions the party has reached about coordinated voter fraud in the leadership race.
Hansen and Helme, however, said the party has been directly contacting members to verify membership data.
“No members have been expunged,” their statement said.
Bajwa’s petition names the party and leadership election organizing committee members Roxanne Helme, Colin Hansen, Derek Lew, Sarah Sidhu, Don Silversides, Cameron Stolz, Jackie Tegart and Stacy Robertson as defendants.
Stolz is party president, and Robertson is the party chief returning officer.
The approved leadership candidates are Gavin Dew, Kevin Falcon, Val Litwin, Michael Lee, Ellis Ross, Renee Merrifield and Stan Sipos.
The petition said a Jan. 3 letter from party interim executive director Lindsay Cote to the leadership campaigns said a membership audit was ongoing but that it would be inappropriate to provide particulars.
In response, the petition said several candidates reported they were “collectively concerned about the potential for voter fraud, the current audit process, and the risk for catastrophic reputation damage to the party.” Those candidates included Gavin Dew, Kevin Falcon, Mark Werner, Val Litwin, Michael Lee, Ellis Ross, Renee Merrifield and Stan Sipos.
Bajwa’s Petition said he contacted the leadership committee on Jan. 26, suggesting the vote be postponed pending a membership audit.
A day later, the party told Bajwa no postponement was required.
The party did not respond immediately to a request for a response to the petition.
Bajwa has unsuccessfully run for the Liberal candidacy in the Surrey-Tynehead riding and twice run for mayor in Surrey.
