French society president ordered out as court reverses rejection of ballots
REGINA The president of Saskatchewan’s francophone association has been ordered to give up his seat, after a judge reinstated 66 ballots thrown out after last fall’s election.
A commission of the Assemblee communautaire fransaskoise (ACF) invalidated the mail-in ballots in January. It found irregularities in how they were delivered, noting that candidate representatives had personally mailed them in identical pre-stamped envelopes.
At that time, the commission declared Roger Gauthier the president of the organization, which represents French-language rights in Saskatchewan. That quickly prompted cries of “racism” after a candidate noted that almost all of the invalidated ballots came from voters of African origin.
A voter later appealed that decision to the Court of Queen’s Bench, which ordered Gauthier to vacate the presidency on Tuesday. Denis Simard, who took the lion’s share of the invalidated ballots, is already preparing to take his place.
“I’m quite happy,” said Simard immediately after the decision was released. “Obviously I went into this wanting to take on that role and that function, and I look forward to serving the community as the best president I can be.”
Justice Guy Chicoine acknowledged that the ballots were collected as part of an organized campaign of primarily African voters to elect Simard, Saskatoon local candidate Francois Afane, and one other candidate. But he said their votes shouldn’t have been thrown out because of minor issues.
“Their basic democratic right to exercise the franchise should not be interfered with by merely formal or immaterial matters that have not affected the integrity of the electoral process,” Chicoine wrote.
Three organizers led the effort to seek mail-in ballot packages for supporters of Afane. But the unstamped envelopes in the packages did not indicate a delivery address, so Afane took it upon himself to obtain stamps and new envelopes. They were fitted with pre-printed address labels, collected and mailed by people connected to his campaign.
But it turned out that the address was incorrect, and 105 ballots turned up in a “dormant” mailbox days after the election. That immediately raised suspicions and led to months of wrangling over the result. Thirty-nine were thrown out for other reasons, leaving 66 open to dispute.
ACF counsel argued that the actions of Afane and his campaign constituted “serious violations” of its election requirements. Chicoine disagreed.
“It matters not who takes the envelope to the post office or delivers it in person,” he wrote, adding that he found no evidence of voter fraud or any indication that the secrecy of the ballot had been compromised.
Gauthier was not immediately available for comment. Simard said he has not yet spoken with his rival, but hopes he will not appeal the case. He said he would like Gauthier to step down “as quickly as possible” to ensure a smooth transition.
“I think the community has already been through so much. I’m hopeful that we can do this peacefully and that it can be resolved fairly quickly,” Simard said.
He further added that he will preside over efforts to add clarity to electoral policies to prevent a repeat of the controversy.
“We have to go through all the electoral policies to make sure these types of situations never happen again,” he said.
Tuesday’s judgment also opens the way for Afane to claim a Saskatoon seat. If he declines, a byelection will be held, according to the decision.