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Defeated Liberal Borys Wrzesnewskyj claims fraud in his Toronto-area 26-vote defeat

Borys Wrzesnewskyj, a three-time Liberal MP who lost his Toronto-area seat in last spring’s election, is calling for a re-vote, claiming fraud contributed to his slim 26-vote defeat to Conservative Ted Opitz.

From the CBC:

Wrzesnewskyj’s lawyers claim 181 ballots are in dispute and should be thrown out. Aside from some voters voting twice, the former MP’s legal team says some voters did not properly prove their identity or were not vouched for properly when they showed up at the polling station with no identification.

Under a court order, Wrzesnewskyj’s lawyers were able to examine the ballots at 10 polling divisions, as well as poll books and electors’ lists at Elections Canada’s office in Ottawa.

The test to declare the election invalid, and trigger a byelection (after any appeals are exhausted), would be a finding that more than 26 ballots, the losing margin, should not have been counted.

Wrzenewskyj’s claims appear unrelated to the still-simmering Robocall scandal. And in many cases, according to the CBC, what he’s alleging is more poor training than deliberate malfeasance, much of it centred around a single polling station. In at least five instances, however, his team claims to have dug up evidence showing voters likely cast their ballots twice, which is a whole different kettle of fish. Wrzenewskyj will be in court April 23 to present his case.

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