General

Tories want U of Guelph votes discounted

UPDATE: Elections Canada validates contested student ballots

The Conservative party is challenging the votes cast during a “vote mob” at the University of Guelph, saying they should be discarded because the voting session violated the Canada Elections Act. The party has requested that Elections Canada rule the polling station was illegal and that partisan election material was distributed during voting. Approximately 700 students cast their vote at a polling station on the main floor of U of G’s University Centre. Several students claim Michael Sona, the communications director for Guelph Conservative candidate Marty Burke, approached the polling station claiming the process was illegal, and at one point may have tried to remove the ballot box, although his presence at the station has not yet been confirmed.

UPDATE: Elections Canada has validated the contested “vote mob” and released this statement: “All information at our disposal indicates that the votes were cast in a manner that respects the Elections Canada Act and are valid.”

Guelph Mercury

Globe and Mail

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