No fraudulent absentee ballots issued in civic vote, probe finds
Surrey RCMP say an investigation into allegations of voter fraud during the 2018 civic election turned up 67 fraudulent applications for absentee ballots, but none of the ballots were mailed out.
The detachment’s major crime section launched its probe in September last year after Surrey’s chief elections officer noted “irregularities” in the mail-ballot registration process, Sgt. Chad Greig said in a news release Friday.
Investigators found that 67 applications for absentee ballots were fraudulent, due to their not being completed or signed by the voter listed on the application. Two of the applications requested that ballots be sent to addresses not associated with the person named on the application, while the other 65 listed the applicant’s correct address.
But no ballots were sent to the people or residences based on those 67 fraudulent applications, Greig said.
“The process to apply for a mail ballot was amended by the chief elections officer on Oct. 1 to preserve the integrity of the election,” he said.
During the investigation, however, another complaint came in alleging that an elections employee at a polling station tried to influence a voter. Election officials quickly removed that person from their position, Greig said.
“Officials from Surrey’s elections office were routinely updated during this investigation and they acted to ensure that the integrity of the 2018 election was maintained,” Greig said.
“The results of the investigation were shared with the chief elections officer to ensure strategies are put in place to protect further elections.”
A report has been sent to the B.C. Prosecution Service for charge assessment, Greig said.
Last September, anti-crime group Wake Up Surrey sent letters to the Surrey RCMP and Elections B.C. ahead of the election alleging a “well-coordinated election fraud scheme underway within the South Asian community.”
The group said absentee ballots were being fraudulently used and votes were being bought.
Wake Up Surrey claimed one or more political parties were behind the scheme, which involved requesting absentee ballots for voters and casting them without their knowledge, or obtaining absentee ballots from voters and either filling them in for them and forging their signatures, or telling them how to vote.
The group said the political party (or parties) orchestrating the scheme were also paying voters to cast a vote for a specific candidate, and estimated 10,000 to 15,000 mail-in ballots could be cast for that candidate.