Shelly Glover files court challenge to Manitoba PC leadership election results

CTV National News: Man. leadership challenge Days after Heather Stefanson became Manitoba's premier, runner-up Shelly Glover is challenging her win in court. Jill Macyshon reports.

WINNIPEG — Shelly Glover has officially filed her court application asking a judge to quash the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party Leadership results.

Heather Stefanson was declared the winner by 363 votes, and is being sworn in as Premier Tuesday afternoon.

Glover has filed a legal challenge claiming “substantial irregularities” in the election that took place at the Victoria Inn last Saturday.

“The applicant makes application for…an order that the election result of October 30, 2021, declaring Heather Stefanson to be premier-designate of Manitoba is invalid and that the office is vacant,” the application states.

The package of documents contains affidavits from Glover and one of her scrutineers, Kevin Cook, a retired Winnipeg Police Constable.

Cook alleges following the counting of the ballots, it was his belief Glover was ahead by 500 votes.

He then claims he saw a few men remove unsecured ballot boxes through a side door of the hotel’s ballroom, supervised by party president Tom Wiebe.

In her affidavit, Glover alleges hours before the announcement, her campaign was told there were 16,045 ballots in total. The party announced 16,546.

None of the allegations have been tested in court.

In an emailed statement to CTV News, the Manitoba PC Party said it has received court papers from Glover's legal counsel.

"Our election process was run independently and without preference to either candidate. All ballots from the time they were received to the time they were counted, were in the care and control of initially our independent security firm and subsequently our independent auditors," the statement said.

It added that the vote counting was overseen by auditors as well as scrutineers with each campaign.

"We hope that after our election committee talks to Ms. Glover and her advisors and respond to her concerns that they will see that the process and the results were handled appropriately, accurately and without favour."