In a Facebook post this morning, Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini said he had filed a complaint about the Oct. 22 municipal election with Elections Ontario.
The councillor didn’t say why he had lodged the complaint, but presumably it’s related to the problems with electronic voting that occurred on Election Night, as well as with issues regarding voter information cards.
Vagnini was a guest on the first night of Sudbury.com’s Election Night livestream. In conversation with hosts Nick Liard, the news director for KISS 105.3 and 92.7 Rock, and Mark Gentili, managing editor Sudbury.com, the councillor alleged there were widespread problems with voter information cards that led to frustration for voters, resulting in many people either being unable to vote or giving up due to long wait times.
City CAO Ed Archer said a post-election debriefing would determine how widespread the problems were, or if there were actually an unusual number of issues this election.
Vagnini has not returned a message asking him to clarify his complaint.
In the statement, and before referring to the complaint he filed, the Ward 2 councillor takes great pains to say he wants to foster a good relationship between the City of Greater Sudbury and the Progressive Conservative government under Premier Doug Ford.
He also makes references to party affiliations.
“I believe that it is within my mandate to foster a good working relationship with the governance of the Province and in doing so actively encourage a relationship with members of the newly elected Progressive Conservative party under Premier Doug Ford,” he writes.
It’s only in the last sentence of the statement that Vagnini writes about the complaint he says he field.
“I did file a complaint with Elections Ontario and will be following up on that complaint as well as the entire election process as it was applied in the city,” he wrote.
Sudbury.com will update this story as more information becomes available. The full text of Vagnini’s Facebook post is below.
Facebook statement on the municipal election from Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini
In my role as an elected Councillor for the City of Greater Sudbury, I do so with the full realization that municipalities in the Province of Ontario exist at the discretion of the Provincial Government. This is true regardless of which political party has been elected to Provincial governance.
I recognize and have the deepest of respect for all of those that get elected to that governance regardless of their party affiliations.
I believe that it is within my mandate to foster a good working relationship with the governance of the Province and in doing so actively encourage a relationship with members of the newly elected Progressive Conservative party under Premier Doug Ford.
I have found them readily accessible and very easy to communicate.
This type of good relationship can only help to ensure Sudburians get appropriately recognized as part of a vibrant Province.
I did file a complaint with Elections Ontario and will be following up on that complaint as well as the entire election process as it was applied in the City.
