Hamilton man admits to trying to vote twice in last federal election

Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - A former member of a Conservative riding association in southern Ontario has struck a compliance agreement with Elections Canada after he tried to cast two votes in the last federal election.

A notice published Friday on the Canada Gazette website says Bryan Vanderkruk admits to requesting a second ballot on election day even though he had already voted at the advance poll in another riding.

“I requested a second ballot on polling day of the federal general election held on May 2, 2011, in the electoral district of Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale … in the province of Ontario,” Vanderkruk said in a statement.

“I had already voted at the same election on April 23, 2011, at the advance poll, in the electoral district of Hamilton Centre … in the province of Ontario.”

Vanderkruk said he knows it’s against the law to vote twice in the same election and he regrets asking for a second ballot.

“I am aware of the prohibition against requesting a second ballot after having voted at the same federal election,” he said.

“I sincerely regret having requested a second ballot, an act that could constitute an offence under the act, and I appreciate the gravity of my actions and their effects on the integrity of the electoral process.”

Compliance agreements are voluntary deals with the Commissioner of Canada Elections in which a person agrees to do certain things in order to comply with the Canada Elections Act.

Part of the agreement could be a statement in which the person admits responsibility for an something — which does not constitute a criminal conviction and doesn’t leave the person with a criminal record.

According to his Linkedin profile, Vanderkruk is the former president of the Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale provincial Progressive Conservative riding association.

His online profile says he was also a member of the federal Conservative riding association in the riding of Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale.

Vanderkruk ran for the Ontario PC Party in the riding of Hamilton Mountain, but he dropped out of the race six months before the provincial election held last June.

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