Okanagan Indian Band (photo credit: Google Maps)

By Pete McIntyre

2023 band election

Federal department ends review of OKIB election result, despite concerns

Apr 24, 2024 | 5:01 AM

The federal government says it won’t pursue any further action into concerns raised about irregularities in the Okanagan Indian Band’s election last year.

Byron Louis won re-election as band chief on March 30, 2023 by four votes over Dan Wilson (290 to 286), while after a recount, Louis’ margin of victory was 13 votes (294 to 281).

Wilson told Vernon Matters he believed the Indian Act was not followed as the recount was done in secret and there was no mention about how 12 spoiled ballots in the recount were handled.

“The Indian Act election regulations state that the electoral officer must show all spoiled ballots to those present at the vote count, to give the candidates and scrutineers a chance to protest the electoral officer’s decision to disregard the spoiled ballot. The electoral officer failed to show the spoiled ballots, and we still haven’t seen them,” Wilson said.

Wilson also maintained the voters list used for the election was out of date and that some off-reserve members didn’t receive a mail-in ballot.

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He was calling for the election to be set aside to allow for more investigation by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC).

Vernon Matters reached out to the federal department for a comment on Wilson’s concerns.

Ryan Tyndall, media relations with Indigenous Services Canada, said the ISC takes all allegations put forward in appeals seriously and makes every attempt to issue determinations regarding election appeals in a timely manner.

“Before a decision is rendered, it is imperative that the evidence be carefully evaluated, analyzed and weighed,” Tyndall said. “Procedural fairness is always afforded to all those involved. An appeal was brought to ISC concerning the noted issues, and the department followed all of the legislated electoral processes required to make a final determination and took the steps necessary to ensure that the allegations and analysis of election materials in connection with the Okanagan 2023 general election were dealt with in a thorough manner.”

Tyndall added as a decision was rendered on March 28, 2024, no further action will be taken by the department on this matter and the results of the election stand.

“Appellants are encouraged to seek independent legal advice should they have further concerns,” Tyndall stated.

A report by ISC’s Director General, Jessica Sultan, who conducted an appeal into allegations of irregularities during the election, found there were technical violations of the regulations by some elections staff.

“Deputy electoral officers (DEOs) conducted the ballot count in a manner that directly limited candidates from having at least two scrutineers present at the ballot count by locking the doors to the polling station and refusing entry to other scrutineers until one left,” Sulton wrote.

“Further, by limiting the viewing ability of scrutineers during the count, the deputy electoral officers prevented scrutineers from properly following along with the vote tally or raise any objections to rejected and/or spoiled ballots.”

Sultan ruled while there were technical violations by the DEOs, and by virtue of that, the electoral officer during the election, there was no clear evidence provided to prove that would have altered the final election results, and as such, the allegation was dismissed.

Dan Wilson told Vernon Matters, it was a “typical response” from the federal department, and added has not yet decided if he will pursue any further action.