Yukon NDP win in Vuntut Gwitchin 'invalid,' says Liberal Pauline Frost in petition to court

Former Liberal MLA Pauline Frost is contesting the outcome of Yukon's election in the Vuntut Gwitchin riding, which she lost this week in a random draw. 

The draw on Monday — won by the NDP's Annie Blake — followed a tie between Blake and Frost on election day. Each had received 78 votes.

In a petition filed Thursday in Yukon Supreme Court, Frost argues that two people who cast ballots in Vuntut Gwitchin didn't meet residence requirements, rendering the election in the riding "invalid." 

James Tucker, the lawyer representing Frost, told CBC News those votes appear to have been counted when they shouldn't have.

"You have to live where you're going to vote," he said. 

"What [Frost] is seeking is to have our democratic system work properly so that it accurately and actually reflects the will of citizens who live where the election occurs."

The petition states that if the two electors didn't vote, "the result of the election would have been materially different."

Emily Farrell, president of the Yukon Liberal Party, deferred all comments to Tucker. However, Farrell issued a statement to media on Thursday. 

"This challenge is being undertaken to protect the integrity of the democratic process. Yukoners should have confidence in the system and the process that supports elections," the statement reads.

The Yukon NDP's chief of staff, Francois Picard, declined comment on Friday.

Yukon's Chief Electoral Officer Maxwell Harvey, who's named in the petition, declined comment, too. 

Floyd McCormick, the former clerk of the Yukon legislative assembly, said Frost has a right to challenge the results in her riding, and there's nothing "underhanded" about her petition to the court. 

"It's just a matter of ensuring that everything was run properly," McCormick said.

According to affidavits attached to the petition, one of the electors, who allegedly voted by special ballot, was in custody at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre around the time of the election; the other voter cast their ballot at an advanced poll in the riding, but hadn't been living in Yukon for 12 months — the least amount of time required to vote in a territorial election. 

After Blake won Monday's draw and was declared winner in Vuntut Gwitchin, Frost seemed to hint at a possible legal challenge.

"I would say when you have an election this close, you'd always want to look at the checks and balances, so I would say perhaps that will happen," she said.