Chief Electoral Officer must assert authority
February 27, 2008
Chief Electoral Officer must assert authority
Edmonton-Castle Downs’ Returning Officer scandal shows Elections Alberta must stand up for Albertans’ right to a fair election
Edmonton – The Alberta Liberal Party formally demanded today that Elections Alberta Chief Electoral Officer Lorne Gibson assert the authority given him by the Election Act and ensure impartiality in the conduct of Alberta’s election on March 3rd, 2008.
Section 4(1) (a) of the Election Act (2000) states the Chief Electoral Officer shall:
“enforce on the part of all election officers fairness and impartiality in the conduct of their duties and compliance with this Act…”
Sun Media reported today that Linda Brown, who was appointed by Order in Council as Returning Officer in Edmonton-Castle Downs, is the former executive assistant to PC MLA Thomas Lukaszuk.
In 2004, Lukazuk won the election over Alberta Liberal Chris Kibermanis by three votes on an appeal of a judicial recount after losing the unofficial count, the official count, and a judicial recount. The two candidates are again running against each other this election. If there is any constituency in which every vote does indeed count, this is it.
“The legislation is quite clear that the Chief Electoral Officer has the authority and responsibility to make sure elections, including this election, are free and fair and administered by impartial returning officers. The CEO has the duty and responsibility to ensure impartiality, without regard to any instruction from the government or fear of retaliation,” said Glenn Rollans, Co-Chair of the Alberta Liberal campaign.
The demand details supervisory measures required to restore Albertans’ confidence in an impartial election, and notes that these measures are enabled by the Act and within the responsibilities of the Chief Electoral Officer.
These measures include retaining impartial outside assistance, including assistance from other jurisdictions, if the staff of Elections Alberta is insufficient to the widespread need for supervision and enforcement of impartiality in this election. “This election was not a surprise. Elections Alberta could have gone on a recruiting drive last spring to bring in qualified, impartial returning officers,” Rollans said.
The demand specifies that the Chief Electoral Officer himself should personally be present during the official count in Edmonton-Castle Downs.
A letter to Chief Electoral Officer Lorne Gibson from the Alberta Liberal Party’s campaign co-chairs is attached.
1
10247 – 124 Street
Edmonton, Alberta T5N 1P8
P: 780-414-1124
F: 780-414-1125
T: 1-800-661-9201
E: office@albertaliberal.com
Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
Suite 100, 11510 Kingsway Ave.
Edmonton, AB
T5G 2Y5
Attn: Lorne R. Gibson, Chief Electoral Officer
Dear Sir:
We write on behalf of the Alberta Liberal Party. We call upon you to take
special steps to uphold the Election Act in the administration of this election,
generally and in respect of the constituencies detailed below.
Section 4 of the Election Act gives you as the Chief Electoral Officer the power
and the responsibility to “enforce on the part of all election officers fairness and
impartiality in the conduct of their duties and compliance with this Act…”.
Section 4 of the Act also says that you shall “issue to election officers any
information and guidance the Chief Electoral Officer considers necessary to
ensure the effective carrying out of this Act”.
Section 4 also says that you shall “provide guidance, direction and supervision
respecting the conduct of all elections … conducted under this Act”.
As you know, the Cabinet practice of appointing nominees of the Progressive
Conservative party as Returning Officers has been front and centre as an issue in
this election campaign. Your own office has confirmed that “about half” of the
Returning Officers this election have close connections to the Conservative
Party. The spokesman for Mr. Stelmach has left no doubt that the Conservative
Party is the source of Returning Officer appointments:
On Thursday, Stelmach insisted he had nothing to do with
selecting the returning officers. Tom Olsen, a spokesman for the
premier, later clarified that Conservative MLAs and Tory
constituency associations put names forward to party officials,
and those officials submit the list to the chief electoral officer at
Elections Alberta. Cabinet then approves the choices through an
order-in-council.
—Edmonton Journal, February 15, 2008
Late yesterday came the public revelations that one Linda Brown is the
Returning Officer for Edmonton-Castle Downs; and that Ms. Brown is a former
Executive Assistant to the incumbent MLA and Progressive Conservative
candidate, Thomas Lukaszuk.
2
You will be well aware that in the 2004 general election, the contest between Mr.
Lukaszuk and Alberta Liberal candidate Chris Kibermanis was decided in favour
of Mr. Lukaszuk by only three votes. This happened on appeal, after Mr.
Kibermanis had won the unofficial count, the official count and one judicial
recount. Mr. Kibermanis is the Alberta Liberal candidate again in this election.
You will also be aware of the following facts:
• Edmonton-Meadowlark Returning Officer Allie Wojtaszek is the wife of
the PC constituency association president Duncan Wojtaszek. She was
the manager for PC candidate Raj Sherman’s nomination campaign. She
maintained a partisan blog that included posts denigrating both the
departing Alberta Liberal incumbent and the Alberta Liberal Party
candidate in this campaign.
• Calgary-Currie Returning Officer Robin Darsi unsuccessfully ran for the
PC nomination for this election in that constituency.
• Calgary-North Hill Returning Officer Andrea Grubbe is the current
Secretary of the North Hill PC constituency association.
• Calgary-Montrose Returning Officer Lynn Warkentin is married to
Montrose PC constituency association Treasurer and Nomination Chair,
Frank Warkentin.
• Calgary-North West Returning Officer Don Severs was former Energy
Minister Greg Melchin's campaign manager in 1997 and 2001 and his
financial officer in 2004
• Edmonton-Decore Returning Officer William Maxim is a past president
of the PC constituency association.
• Calgary-McCall Returning Officer Shirley Barwise was Returning
Officer in that constituency in the 2004 election. A scrutineer that
election went public with complaints of openly partisan behaviour at his
polling station.
• Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville Returning Officer Ralph Soldan
contributed as much as $1,000 to Ed Stelmach's 2006 leadership
campaign.
We believe that these facts have created a widespread public perception that
Returning Officers are biased. We say that these facts demonstrate a compelling
need that the election in general, and particularly in these constituencies, be
administered in a way that is both impartial and seen to be impartial.
3
Ms. Brown’s appointment in Edmonton-Castle Downs is an outrageous case. It
is bad enough that a person with any kind of past employee relationship with the
sitting MLA could become a Returning Officer. But when the relationship is so
recent, and when the job was political in nature, the circumstances completely
undermine any presumption of impartiality that a Returning Officer might
otherwise be entitled to.
Any judge or adjudicator in such circumstances would disclose the past
employment relationship and refuse to act because of an apprehension of bias.
How can any lesser standard be expected of a Returning Officer? And, we ask,
if these facts do not warrant special efforts on the part of your office to “enforce
… fairness and impartiality… and compliance with this Act”, what facts would?
With all respect, this is not a case in which your office can credibly decline to
become involved. You are an officer of the Legislature; we therefore say that
your office has an obligation to act without regard to any instructions from the
government or fear of retaliation. We say that your office cannot credibly rely
upon a lack of resources, nor can it credibly demonstrate any unwillingness to
scrutinize the anti-democratic practices of the ruling party when those practices
have become so notorious.
Therefore, we call upon you to take the following measure on a province-wide
basis:
1. In advance of Election Day, issue unequivocal instructions to every
election official in every constituency about their obligations of
fairness and impartiality and ensure that they understand those
obligations.
We call upon you to take the following measures in the constituencies identified
above. We reserve the right to request these measures be extended to other
constituencies where we learn that circumstances warrant.
2. Appoint officials responsible to your office to conduct unannounced
spot checks of every poll during the course of voting.
3. Appoint officials responsible to your office to be present during the
unofficial count by Deputy Returning Officers at the close of the
polls.
4. Retain impartial outside assistance for these tasks if your staff is
insufficient to do so on its own. Retain lawyers, experienced election
observers, or officials from other jurisdictions as temporary members
of your office staff and designate them for this task.
4
5. Undertake to have an official of your office present observing the
official count on March 13.
And we call upon you to take the following special measure in Edmonton-Castle
Downs:
6. That you as the Chief Electoral Officer be personally present
observing the official count on March 13 in that constituency.
We request an official response to this letter at the earliest possible opportunity.
We also advise that this letter will be made public later this afternoon.
Yours sincerely,
Original Signed Original Signed
__________________________ ___________________________
Glenn Rollans and for Darryl Raymaker
Co-Chairs, Alberta Liberal Campaign 2008
Chief Electoral Officer must assert authority
Edmonton-Castle Downs’ Returning Officer scandal shows Elections Alberta must stand up for Albertans’ right to a fair election
Edmonton – The Alberta Liberal Party formally demanded today that Elections Alberta Chief Electoral Officer Lorne Gibson assert the authority given him by the Election Act and ensure impartiality in the conduct of Alberta’s election on March 3rd, 2008.
Section 4(1) (a) of the Election Act (2000) states the Chief Electoral Officer shall:
“enforce on the part of all election officers fairness and impartiality in the conduct of their duties and compliance with this Act…”
Sun Media reported today that Linda Brown, who was appointed by Order in Council as Returning Officer in Edmonton-Castle Downs, is the former executive assistant to PC MLA Thomas Lukaszuk.
In 2004, Lukazuk won the election over Alberta Liberal Chris Kibermanis by three votes on an appeal of a judicial recount after losing the unofficial count, the official count, and a judicial recount. The two candidates are again running against each other this election. If there is any constituency in which every vote does indeed count, this is it.
“The legislation is quite clear that the Chief Electoral Officer has the authority and responsibility to make sure elections, including this election, are free and fair and administered by impartial returning officers. The CEO has the duty and responsibility to ensure impartiality, without regard to any instruction from the government or fear of retaliation,” said Glenn Rollans, Co-Chair of the Alberta Liberal campaign.
The demand details supervisory measures required to restore Albertans’ confidence in an impartial election, and notes that these measures are enabled by the Act and within the responsibilities of the Chief Electoral Officer.
These measures include retaining impartial outside assistance, including assistance from other jurisdictions, if the staff of Elections Alberta is insufficient to the widespread need for supervision and enforcement of impartiality in this election. “This election was not a surprise. Elections Alberta could have gone on a recruiting drive last spring to bring in qualified, impartial returning officers,” Rollans said.
The demand specifies that the Chief Electoral Officer himself should personally be present during the official count in Edmonton-Castle Downs.
A letter to Chief Electoral Officer Lorne Gibson from the Alberta Liberal Party’s campaign co-chairs is attached.
1
10247 – 124 Street
Edmonton, Alberta T5N 1P8
P: 780-414-1124
F: 780-414-1125
T: 1-800-661-9201
E: office@albertaliberal.com
Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
Suite 100, 11510 Kingsway Ave.
Edmonton, AB
T5G 2Y5
Attn: Lorne R. Gibson, Chief Electoral Officer
Dear Sir:
We write on behalf of the Alberta Liberal Party. We call upon you to take
special steps to uphold the Election Act in the administration of this election,
generally and in respect of the constituencies detailed below.
Section 4 of the Election Act gives you as the Chief Electoral Officer the power
and the responsibility to “enforce on the part of all election officers fairness and
impartiality in the conduct of their duties and compliance with this Act…”.
Section 4 of the Act also says that you shall “issue to election officers any
information and guidance the Chief Electoral Officer considers necessary to
ensure the effective carrying out of this Act”.
Section 4 also says that you shall “provide guidance, direction and supervision
respecting the conduct of all elections … conducted under this Act”.
As you know, the Cabinet practice of appointing nominees of the Progressive
Conservative party as Returning Officers has been front and centre as an issue in
this election campaign. Your own office has confirmed that “about half” of the
Returning Officers this election have close connections to the Conservative
Party. The spokesman for Mr. Stelmach has left no doubt that the Conservative
Party is the source of Returning Officer appointments:
On Thursday, Stelmach insisted he had nothing to do with
selecting the returning officers. Tom Olsen, a spokesman for the
premier, later clarified that Conservative MLAs and Tory
constituency associations put names forward to party officials,
and those officials submit the list to the chief electoral officer at
Elections Alberta. Cabinet then approves the choices through an
order-in-council.
—Edmonton Journal, February 15, 2008
Late yesterday came the public revelations that one Linda Brown is the
Returning Officer for Edmonton-Castle Downs; and that Ms. Brown is a former
Executive Assistant to the incumbent MLA and Progressive Conservative
candidate, Thomas Lukaszuk.
2
You will be well aware that in the 2004 general election, the contest between Mr.
Lukaszuk and Alberta Liberal candidate Chris Kibermanis was decided in favour
of Mr. Lukaszuk by only three votes. This happened on appeal, after Mr.
Kibermanis had won the unofficial count, the official count and one judicial
recount. Mr. Kibermanis is the Alberta Liberal candidate again in this election.
You will also be aware of the following facts:
• Edmonton-Meadowlark Returning Officer Allie Wojtaszek is the wife of
the PC constituency association president Duncan Wojtaszek. She was
the manager for PC candidate Raj Sherman’s nomination campaign. She
maintained a partisan blog that included posts denigrating both the
departing Alberta Liberal incumbent and the Alberta Liberal Party
candidate in this campaign.
• Calgary-Currie Returning Officer Robin Darsi unsuccessfully ran for the
PC nomination for this election in that constituency.
• Calgary-North Hill Returning Officer Andrea Grubbe is the current
Secretary of the North Hill PC constituency association.
• Calgary-Montrose Returning Officer Lynn Warkentin is married to
Montrose PC constituency association Treasurer and Nomination Chair,
Frank Warkentin.
• Calgary-North West Returning Officer Don Severs was former Energy
Minister Greg Melchin's campaign manager in 1997 and 2001 and his
financial officer in 2004
• Edmonton-Decore Returning Officer William Maxim is a past president
of the PC constituency association.
• Calgary-McCall Returning Officer Shirley Barwise was Returning
Officer in that constituency in the 2004 election. A scrutineer that
election went public with complaints of openly partisan behaviour at his
polling station.
• Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville Returning Officer Ralph Soldan
contributed as much as $1,000 to Ed Stelmach's 2006 leadership
campaign.
We believe that these facts have created a widespread public perception that
Returning Officers are biased. We say that these facts demonstrate a compelling
need that the election in general, and particularly in these constituencies, be
administered in a way that is both impartial and seen to be impartial.
3
Ms. Brown’s appointment in Edmonton-Castle Downs is an outrageous case. It
is bad enough that a person with any kind of past employee relationship with the
sitting MLA could become a Returning Officer. But when the relationship is so
recent, and when the job was political in nature, the circumstances completely
undermine any presumption of impartiality that a Returning Officer might
otherwise be entitled to.
Any judge or adjudicator in such circumstances would disclose the past
employment relationship and refuse to act because of an apprehension of bias.
How can any lesser standard be expected of a Returning Officer? And, we ask,
if these facts do not warrant special efforts on the part of your office to “enforce
… fairness and impartiality… and compliance with this Act”, what facts would?
With all respect, this is not a case in which your office can credibly decline to
become involved. You are an officer of the Legislature; we therefore say that
your office has an obligation to act without regard to any instructions from the
government or fear of retaliation. We say that your office cannot credibly rely
upon a lack of resources, nor can it credibly demonstrate any unwillingness to
scrutinize the anti-democratic practices of the ruling party when those practices
have become so notorious.
Therefore, we call upon you to take the following measure on a province-wide
basis:
1. In advance of Election Day, issue unequivocal instructions to every
election official in every constituency about their obligations of
fairness and impartiality and ensure that they understand those
obligations.
We call upon you to take the following measures in the constituencies identified
above. We reserve the right to request these measures be extended to other
constituencies where we learn that circumstances warrant.
2. Appoint officials responsible to your office to conduct unannounced
spot checks of every poll during the course of voting.
3. Appoint officials responsible to your office to be present during the
unofficial count by Deputy Returning Officers at the close of the
polls.
4. Retain impartial outside assistance for these tasks if your staff is
insufficient to do so on its own. Retain lawyers, experienced election
observers, or officials from other jurisdictions as temporary members
of your office staff and designate them for this task.
4
5. Undertake to have an official of your office present observing the
official count on March 13.
And we call upon you to take the following special measure in Edmonton-Castle
Downs:
6. That you as the Chief Electoral Officer be personally present
observing the official count on March 13 in that constituency.
We request an official response to this letter at the earliest possible opportunity.
We also advise that this letter will be made public later this afternoon.
Yours sincerely,
Original Signed Original Signed
__________________________ ___________________________
Glenn Rollans and for Darryl Raymaker
Co-Chairs, Alberta Liberal Campaign 2008
Trackbacks
No Trackbacks
Comments
Display comments as Linear | Threaded