Former PMO staffer fined for voting in the wrong riding in the 2021 election
A former adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been fined $1,500 for voting in the wrong riding in the 2021 election.
Staffer was volunteering in Calgary during 2021 campaign, according to the Commissioner of Canada Elections
A former adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been fined $1,500 for voting in the wrong riding in the 2021 election.
Ayesha Chughtai voted in the electoral district of Calgary Skyview but didn’t “ordinarily reside” in the riding, according to a summary of the violation on the Commissioner of Canada Elections’ website.
The Canada Elections Act forbids citizens from voting “in a particular electoral district knowing that his or her place of ordinary residence is not in that electoral district.”
The summary says Chughtai was volunteering for George Chahal — the Liberal candidate and now MP for Calgary Skyview — during the 2021 campaign. She also was working in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) as a regional adviser for the Prairies and the North at the time.
The summary indicates Chughtai was told by Elections Canada staff on Sept. 2 that she wasn’t eligible to vote in the riding, but still voted at an advance poll on Sept. 13.
Chahal won the riding by just under 3,000 votes. The MP was himself fined by the commissioner in 2022 for removing an opponent’s flyer from a residence during the campaign.
