Defeated candidate in band election alleges ballot tampering

A man who unsuccessfully ran to become chief of the Shubenacadie First Nation is alleging vote tampering in the band elections held in June.

Michael Paul, who was soundly defeated by Chief Jerry Sack, is claiming he has proof the vote was rigged.

The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs confirmed it has received one appeal of the results.

A spokesperson for the department said officials are assessing that appeal, and a decision will be made by the end of the month.

Paul said that after the election he spoke to band members who live off reserve in Alberta. They told him that they did not vote, and still have their mail-in ballots.

But, he said, the problem is the names of these people were marked down as having cast a vote.

"We double-checked the names of who did and didn’t vote out there and, at that time, they claimed they did not vote. Yet, when you looked at the scrutineer's sheet, they were marked off as mail-in ballots," Paul said.

"Those voter declaration forms need to be, you know, picked up by the RCMP and fingerprinted because, I’ll tell you right now, if these voters are claiming they didn’t vote and I have their ballots, then who filled out their ballots for them? Who signed that voter declaration form?"

These people’s ballots and declaration forms — as well as sworn statements that they did not vote — are now in the hands of a lawyer, who Paul said is holding the evidence for further investigation.

Paul also showed CBC News sworn statements from at least two people who claimed they were offered cash and alcohol on election day.

He has submitted a list of 14 election irregularities to the federal government, including the claim that falsified ballots from off-reserve voters affected the outcome of the election of both chief and councillors.

Election signs are still up in Indian Brook, about 50 kilometres north of Halifax, where most of the band's 2,200 members live.

Paul said if laws were broken, there should be a new vote, and the people involved should be arrested.

Sack is out of the province and was not available for comment.

The band is the second largest First Nation community in Nova Scotia.