Greater Sudbury Police Service officers are looking into whether a non-resident of Canada voted in the Oct. 25 election, Const. Bert Lapalme, Greater Sudbury Police Service media relations officer, has confirmed.
Local media recently reported a man had called them and explained he was a landed immigrant and had voted in the Oct. 25 election. He reportedly claimed he had received a voter’s card, took it to his election poll with his driver’s license and voted.
If you are not Canadian, you cannot vote.
Angie Haché,
Greater Sudbury chief returning officer
The identity of the individual is not yet confirmed, nor whether the person is or is not a Canadian citizen, Lapalme said.
Under the 1996 Municipal Elections Act of Ontario, if a person provides misleading information during the voting process, including information on being a Canadian citizen, they can receive a penalty in the form of a fine of not more than $25,000 or imprisonment of not more than six months.
Lapalme said police were assessing the legislation for its application to this incident.
Angie Haché, Greater Sudbury chief returning officer, said, to her knowledge, this type of incident hasn’t happened in Greater Sudbury before.
“If you are not Canadian, you cannot vote,” Haché said. “It would be like you going to England, living there and voting when you are not a British citizen. This gentleman knew full well, from my understanding, that he should not have voted because he immediately went to the news media to announce it. That’s fraud.”
She said she met with the Greater Sudbury Police Service Nov. 2. “We reported it shortly after we found out.”
Haché said there are multiple ways for people to get on the voters list. “You can complete an application to amend (the voters list),” she said. “But in all cases, the application does ask if you are Canadian, 18 years of age and older, and if you reside and own property in the municipality. We take your word that you do. We do ask you for identification.”
But identification does not verify citizenship, just identity. Birth certificates are not requested at the voters booth, Haché said, but said if staff believe someone may not be a citizen, they can request proof of citizenship.
“A lot of people are inconvenienced by (asking for ID),” she said. “Can you imagine if we asked them for their birth certificate?”
