More people are coming forward to say they did not sign the nomination papers of a last-minute Southwestern Ontario Liberal candidate, prompting NDP officials to call for her removal.
Taras Natyshak, outgoing NDP MPP for Essex, said Wednesday there is now “clear evidence of fraud” in the Liberal Party’s efforts “to try to improperly register their candidate on the ballot in Chatham-Kent—Leamington.
The Liberal candidate, Audrey Festeryga, replaced Alec Mazurek just hours before the nomination deadline after the NDP uncovered social media posts Mazurek wrote as a teen that contained anti-gay slurs.
NDP officials have since alleged the Liberals recycled signatures from Mazurek’s nomination papers for their new candidate.
Natyshak said Wednesday the NDP had received confirmation from a total of four people who say their signatures from Mazurek’s papers were being improperly used for Festeryga’s nomination.
“The evidence of fraud is clear,” Natyshak said.
Ontario Liberal Party press secretary Andrea Ernesaks said in an email Wednesday the party’s previous statement on the issue still stands.
“Our lawyers have looked into the NDP complaint, and we are confident the nomination of our candidate, Audrey Festeryga, is perfectly valid,” she said.
She added Elections Ontario has “approved the candidacy and issued a certificate of nomination to our candidate.”
Natyshak, though, said Elections Ontario confirmed to the NDP on May 20 that an investigation into Festeryga’s nomination papers had been launched.
“Elections Ontario does not comment on whether or not it has received a complaint or whether or not it is investigating a matter,” a spokesperson for that agency said Wednesday.
In renewing the call for Festeryga to be removed as a candidate, Natyshak said an Elections Ontario official had “confirmed on May 22 that a mistake was made in accepting this Liberal candidate’s registration.”
He said the unnamed official said this directly to a member of Chatham-Kent—Leamington NDP candidate Brock McGregor’s campaign team.
“This is the first time we’ve heard and had an official confirmation of what we have known all along,” Natyshak said.
The official, Natyshak added, “quite clearly, after reviewing them, stated that they should not have ever accepted them in the first place, given the information and the knowledge that they have.”
Matt Fedler, McGregor’s campaign manager, confirmed he was the team member who had this “candid conversation” with the Elections Ontario official.
Fedler said the Chatham-Kent—Leamington NDP didn’t want the focus to be on the people who signed the papers, calling them “unfortunate bystanders in this situation.” Instead, the campaign manager said NDP officials wanted the focus to be on the Liberal Party and their “fraudulent activities.”
Guy Taylor, the returning officer for Chatham-Kent—Leamington, said the dispute between the two parties is being dealt with “higher up” at Elections Ontario.
“I accepted the papers that were given to me, the NDP disputed it. That’s about all I know,” he said.
Chatham resident Mike Brown was the first to say his signature, which appeared on Festeryga’s forms, had been taken from the prior Liberal candidate’s nomination papers.
“(Mazurek’s) are the only forms I have signed for the provincial election,” Brown said in a May 19 statement issued by the NDP.
Natyshak also urged Elections Ontario to expedite its investigation, noting people are already casting ballots for the June 2 election in advance polls.
“It’s really unfortunate this issue hasn’t already been resolved,” McGregor said.
“It’s pretty clear from our view there’s been some wrongdoing with these nominations,” the NDP candidate added. “We don’t think the candidate should stand and I think its disenfranchising voters that it still appears they can vote for a candidate that hasn’t followed the process to be involved in this campaign.”