Montreal man fined for voting twice in 2019 federal election

A former elections official was fined for voting twice during the 2019 federal election. David Gilchrist told officials he was just trying to 'test' Canada's election integrity.

Montreal man fined for voting twice in 2019 federal election
The Canadian Press / Graham Hughes
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An individual claiming to be testing Canada's electoral security has been charged for voting twice in the 2019 federal election.

In the fall of that year, David Gilchrist cast a vote by special ballot in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount riding before voting a second time in person at an advance polling station in the St-Laurent electoral district, according to a summary of the infraction posted by the Elections Commissioner.

Elections officials say Gilchrist first voted by special ballot on September 23, 2019. Gilchrist then voted a second time on October 11, 2019, while accompanying his father to an advance polling station where officials say he used his father's voter ID card to cast an advance ballot.

Gilchrist admitted to Elections Canada officials that he had voted twice.

In the summary, the Elections Commissioner states that Gilchrist “admitted to two Elections Canada officials that he voted twice with the intention to test the electoral system.”

Previously, Gilchrist had worked as an election official in several municipal, provincial and federal elections, along with serving as a regional liaison officer for Ukraine's 2004 and 2014 presidential elections and as an international elections observer in Haiti in 2006.

The ethics commissioner said Gilchrist's intention to “test” the electoral system served as an aggravating factor in the decision, ordering Gilchrist to pay $1,250.

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