Elections Canada Imposes Fine on Foreign National for Voting in 2021 Federal Election

February 23, 2025 TruthUSA

Another instance of a foreign national voting in Canada’s 2021 federal election has been reported by the election watchdog. This news follows an internal survey conducted by Elections Canada, which revealed that a third of election officials encountered attempts at ineligible voting during the 2019 federal election.

Elections Canada stated in a “Summary of the Notice of Violation” on Feb. 19 that “Michael James Wiest, as determined by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada [IRCC], was not a Canadian citizen on polling day for the 44th federal general election but was found to have cast a vote.” The original report was first released by Blacklock’s Reporter.

Wiest, whose nationality was not disclosed, was identified as having voted at a polling station in the electoral district of Simcoe—Grey in Simcoe County, Central Ontario, on Sept. 20, 2021, according to the Official List of Electors.

According to the Canada Elections Act, only Canadian citizens aged 18 or older are eligible to vote. Elections Canada has referred this case to the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections for investigation. Wiest has been issued an Administrative Monetary Penalty of $1,250 by the Chief Electoral Officer after a review.

An aggravating factor was included in the penalty, increasing it from the baseline of $1,000, as Wiest was aware of his ineligibility to vote but proceeded to the polling station, signed a registration certificate, and cast a ballot.

“This deliberate sequence of actions indicates an intentional contravention, constituting an aggravating factor under the Canada Elections Act,” the summary explained.

Amid concerns about inaccuracies in voter lists, a survey conducted with election officers after the October 2019 federal election revealed that 35 percent of poll staff encountered individuals wanting to vote who were not on the list of electors or could not be registered at the polling station. This survey, commissioned by Elections Canada and conducted by Phoenix Strategic Perspectives between mid-December 2019 and mid-January 2020, was released in June 2020.

In a February 2020 document addressing potential non-citizens listed in the National Register of Electors, Elections Canada revealed using IRCC data for the first time in April 2019. Initially, around 103,000 potential non-citizens were identified in the register, which later increased to 112,000 after further analysis. However, following revised data from IRCC, that number was revised down to 85,000.

After this correction, Elections Canada contacted these potential non-citizens to confirm their status—whether they were indeed non-citizens or Canadian citizens aged 18 and above. Approximately 74,000 non-citizens were subsequently removed from the register.

Chief Electoral Officer Stephane Perrault explained to reporters at the time, as reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, “We have implemented significant improvements to ensure the accuracy of the list, making sure it is a list solely of Canadian citizens. We have substantially cleaned up the list.”

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