Former Norfolk mayor Kristal Chopp has launched a formal complaint about current Mayor Amy Martin’s spending during the October 2022 municipal election.
That complaint will be reviewed Wednesday by the municipal election compliance committee with presentations by both Chopp and Martin.
In a 50-page document, Chopp alleges that Martin and her election team practiced “cybersquatting” or the process of grabbing internet domain names of opponents and either blocking them from being used or using them to divert traffic to someone else’s campaign.
More than just using Chopp’s name, the former mayor claims the cost of nailing down those domain purchases was not disclosed in Martin’s election compliance materials.
The former mayor told Postmedia her complaint is bigger than the election results, noting that online disinformation and underhanded tactics are manipulating voters around the world.
“Elected officials must strive and ensure that campaigns are undertaken to the highest standard,” Chopp said in an emailed statement.
“That didn’t happen here in Norfolk.
“My hope is that this serves as a catalyst to bring about future change in the same way other stories have inspired discussions at higher level of government in other jurisdictions in Canada and abroad.”
Martin did not provide comment by time of publication.
The committee will review the complaint during a 1 pm meeting and is set to make a decision during the same meeting.
The meeting will be live-streamed.
The election compliance audit committee was set in November last year and sits for four years but does not report to council.
After receiving an application from an elector, the committee decides whether an audit should be rejected or granted and then can appoint an auditor to do a compliance audit.
If contraventions of the Election Act are found, the committee can start legal proceedings.
@EXPSGamble