A Chatham voter says he will never cast a ballot in advance again after the Liberal candidate for Chatham-Kent-Leamington withdrew from the provincial election.
The voter, who wants to remain anonymous, is calling for the advance voting process to change after losing his vote when Audrey Festeryga bowed out of the race on Thursday.
He said he voted at an advanced poll before Festeryga's withdrawal and wants his vote back, adding that his vote was discarded for reasons beyond his control.
"That leaves a very poor taste in my mouth. I'm just very upset with it, I want to be part of that [voting] and I've been denied that opportunity, not because of anything I've done but because of the rules," said the upset man. "I would never advance vote ever again knowing that this can happen again, maybe not in our riding, but it will happen again somewhere. As a citizen I'm being denied my opportunity to participate [in the election]," he said.
The Election Act states that any ballots cast for a candidate who has withdrawn are void and shall be considered rejected ballots. Elections Ontario also said a notice of the withdrawal shall be posted in a clearly visible place in every polling place in the electoral district.
Festeryga withdrew from the June 2, 2022 ballot on Thursday.
The withdrawal came after the Ontario NDP alleged several times that signatures on her nomination papers were fraudulent.
Festeryga said the NDP's "relentless personal attacks" are responsible for her decision to leave the race.
Elections Ontario told the disappointed voter by email that if he is interested in making changes to the Election Act, he will need to contact his MPP to express his concerns and suggestions and request a change to the act.
