Jeff Peller drops court application on PC nomination

A defeated Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas Progressive Conservative nomination candidate has dropped his court application.

Jeff Peller appealed the results and filed for a judicial review after a May nomination meeting where Ben Levitt was declared the winner, alleging the meeting was “tainted and improper.”

“After consideration of his application on its merits, Jeff Peller acknowledges the PC party’s power to control their internal candidate selection process,” said a joint statement from the Ontario PC party and Peller issued Friday night.

According to the statement, Peller “offers his endorsement of and support for Patrick Brown and the PC Party of Ontario in the upcoming provincial election.”

The allegations in Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas were among several Progressive Conservative nomination results being questioned by party members.

Peller had initially sought a new nomination meeting supervised by auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers after party leader Patrick Brown hired the firm to oversee future nominations. His appeal alleged officials did not follow party rules and “recklessly disregarded ballots as ‘spoiled’ that were otherwise legitimate.”

The ballot count was not democratic, open and unbiased — and officials didn’t address complaints that the vote “was tainted by ballot box stuffing,” he alleged.

Peller contended Levitt won the nomination at the credentials table where voters’ identities were supposed to be verified, but was so problematic, it prevented a many from registering to vote.