Judge nixes federal election riding vote; orders byelection

By: The Canadian Press Posted: 12:57 PM

TORONTO - A judge has declared last year's federal election results in a Toronto riding to be null and void due to voting irregularities.  The judge has ordered a byelection in Etobicoke-Centre, which Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj lost by 26 votes to Conservative Ted Opitz. A Liberal party spokesman says the decision vindicates Wrzesnewskyj's claims. During arguments heard last month, the losing candidate claimed a series of essentially clerical errors was enough to warrant overturning the results of last May's vote. In making their unprecedented case, lawyers for the Liberal candidate argued the integrity of the electoral system depended on strict adherence to procedural rules. Wrzesnewskyj argued that sloppy application of voting rules by Elections Canada officials may have allowed some ineligible voters to cast ballots, and some may have actually voted twice.