Contested Elections
All concerns respecting the regularity of an election – other than for matters that are handled through judicial recounts – are addressed through the contested election process. After a person is declared elected, any elector who was eligible to vote in a district or any candidate in that district may bring an application for a contested election before a judge.
In a contested election proceeding, a judge is required to determine whether the person who won the election was eligible to be a candidate or whether there were any other irregularities, fraud, or corrupt or illegal practices that affected the result of the election. The Chief Electoral Officer, along with the Attorney General, the relevant returning officer, the candidates in the election and the person bringing the application are all parties to a contested election proceeding. This is a court proceeding at the end of which the judge either dismisses the application or invalidates the result of the election.
An appeal from this decision can be brought to the Supreme Court of Canada.
