Worker who arranged mail-in ballots at B.C. care facility voted Conservative, affidavit says

FILE IMAGE: B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad holds a media availability following election results at the legislature in Victoria, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

There’s a new twist in the allegations of voting irregularities at a care facility in B.C.’s Surrey-Guildford riding, which was among the most hotly contested in last year’s provincial election.

As the B.C. Conservatives continue sounding the alarm about ballots cast at Argyll Lodge – a group home for people with mental health and substance use issues – an employee has sworn an affidavit challenging some of the party’s concerns.

In the affidavit, Hla Kathy Oo identifies herself as the Argyll employee who arranged to have mail-in ballots provided to residents, which she said was done at their request.

She also indicated she cast her own ballot for Honveer Randhawa, the Conservative candidate who lost the riding by just 22 votes.

Randhawa has launched a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court seeking to have the results in Surrey-Guildford overturned, largely due to the party’s allegations of impropriety at Argyll. Oo’s affidavit was filed in that court case.

“I am so disappointed, ashamed and upset that I voted for him and that he is doing this to me, my family, and our clients,” she wrote. “I really regret voting for him.”

Detailed account of mail-in voting

Oo’s position at Argyll is “activity worker,” and involves helping residents do everything from going shopping to sending mail, according to her affidavit.

“We have client consent forms that authorize staff to act on our clients’ behalf to assist them with these activities,” she wrote.

“In the lead-up to the October 2024 provincial election, during our daily morning meeting with the group of clients, I asked if they wanted to vote. The clients said yes.”

The employee said she later asked residents if they wanted to vote by mail, and that they again said yes, so she arranged to have voting packages delivered to the facility.

The self-identified Conservative voter also demonstrated how to complete the ballots, ensured the packages were signed, and mailed them back to Elections B.C., according to her statement.

Oo said she has worked at the facility for 17 years, and over that time has helped residents vote both in person and by mail – but did not “intimidate or force” anyone to do so.

“In my experience, the clients of Argyll Lodge are intelligent and fully capable of exercising their right to vote,” she wrote. “They just may need assistance with logistical things like waiting in a line-up or dealing with bad weather.”

Oo also swore she does not discuss politics with residents, as employees are prohibited from doing so.

Conservatives reiterate calls for inquiry

Meanwhile, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad reiterated calls for an independent inquiry into concerns about voting irregularities in the province.

He also once again accused Elections B.C. of failing to investigate Randhawa’s concerns in Surrey-Guildford.

“What is it that they’re trying to hide?” Rustad said Thursday at the legislature. “That’s just very disturbing, from my perspective.”

Elections B.C. previously confirmed it was reviewing a complaint from Randhawa, but said it put the matter on hold after he filed his lawsuit. The independent, non-partisan agency said it did so to “preserve the integrity” of the court process.

• Related: B.C. solicitor general says Opposition operative took mentally ill man from care home

The Conservatives have alleged “some residents” of Argyll denied requesting a mail-in ballot – or even being aware that an election was taking place last October – and that the facility’s manager “bears the same name” as someone who donated $1,400 to the B.C. NDP in 2023.

Rustad said his party has been speaking with residents of other, similar facilities, and could be bringing forward additional accounts of alleged irregularities.

Despite calling for a broad review of the voting process, Rustad said the Conservatives have not filed complaints with Elections B.C. for any other riding but Surrey-Guildford.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, NDP cabinet minister Ravi Kahlon compared Rustad’s comments to U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing denial that he was voted out of office in 2020.

“John Rustad’s been using this Trump-style playbook to dispute an election that he lost, and he’s using innocent peoples’ lives as collateral for his ambitions,” Kahlon said.

“I find it, quite frankly, sickening.”

Green candidate says he was turned away

Also on Thursday, the Conservatives touted another affidavit regarding Argyll, filed by B.C. Green Party candidate Manjeet Singh Sahota, who said he approached the facility while door-to-door canvassing during his campaign.

Sahota said he was speaking to people in front of the lodge when a woman “introduced herself as a caregiver for the residents” and told him “only sick people live at the lodge and they do not participate in voting.”

As a result of that conversation, Sahota said he does not “believe” he left campaign materials at the property, and never returned.

“It makes me very, very angry to think our vulnerable citizens – our seniors – have potentially been taken advantage of in terms of how the election process has worked,” Rustad said.

According to the Conservatives, 21 mail-in ballots were cast at Argyll, which has a capacity of 25 beds. It’s unclear which party benefited the most from those votes.