Elections Ontario is “investigating” after a whistleblower filmed an exposé claiming to reveal vulnerabilities in the Ontario voting process.
Spencer, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of legal reprisal, released the video to his YouTube account, “MCGA.” He filmed himself getting registered to vote using only an edited document with a TD bank logo, a fake name, and a phoney address in each of the 13 returning offices he visited.
The YouTuber sought to expose apparent flaws in Ontario’s electoral system, the lack of enforcing a photo identification requirement for voters.
According to Elections Ontario’s website, a voter in Ontario without a Voter Information Card can use one of 29 documents showing the voter’s name and address. Acceptable “proof” of address and ID include a paid receipt, documents certified by the Canadian government or, in Spencer’s case, a bank account or credit card statement.
In an interview with True North, Spencer said he reached the attestation stage in 13 electoral districts. He never went as far as to give his signature on the electoral officer’s iPad, declaring he was who he said he was, as he intended to expose the system, not vote using false IDs.
“It turns out that you don’t need voter ID or anything like a legitimate ID,” Spencer told True North. “If you don’t have (ID), or you refuse to supply that, you can supplement your ID with, quite literally, what I used was a blank piece of paper on my phone with a fake name on it and an address that matched one of 13 ridings that I went to.”
He said he even voted in his real riding using the same method of not providing ID but with his actual name and address, despite not ever registering to vote provincially in the past. He said he went to “every single returning office in Hamilton, each in Burlington and several in Oakville.”
“I gave them the fake names, they registered me and added me to the polling,” he said. “I literally could have voted as many times as I wanted.”
Spencer edited a TD bank statement to include the fake identity, which he showed True North. One of the documents had the name “Corey Trevor,” inspired by the Canadian comedy series Trailer Park Boys.
Spencer’s concerned that if he was able to get to the point of casting a ballot in the election with an easily forgeable document, someone who was not a citizen could do so and likely be able to leave the country before Election Ontario were able to detect fraud if they ever did.
Elections Ontario told True North that it was “investigating the video” but did not clarify whether it was probing Spencer’s actions, potential system vulnerabilities or both. The agency also refused to disclose what safeguards exist beyond a signature on an iPad to prevent fraud.
“The Ontario Legislative Assembly put this into law. They need to make it so that you have to show a government ID proving that you’re a Canadian citizen,” Spencer said. “There should be no exception beyond photo ID, with proof of address, and frankly, that should also come with a VIC. You should not be able to vote without both in tandem.”
Despite seemingly being able to get to the point right before receiving a ballot for fraudulent identities, some laws penalize anyone committing fraud.
Section 95 of the Election Act in Ontario, enacted in 1990, says that anyone who “furnishes false or misleading information” to a returning officer is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine of “not more than $5,000.”
Section 97.1 of the same act says anyone convicted of such an offence who committed the act “knowingly” can be subject to a fine of not more than $25,000 instead of the original penalty and can receive up to two years imprisonment.
Spencer said his attempts to expose the story were ignored by Canada’s legacy media and the PC government simply pointed to the laws in place for decades which say photo ID isn’t required.
Jim Karahalios, the Leader of the New Blue Party in Ontario, who didn’t win any seats, said he’s not surprised that the PC’s “don’t care” about voter fraud, as they have resisted bills which would strengthen voter protections in internal party elections.
“There should be tougher rules and tougher penalties in general elections on ensuring that the person who’s voting is actually the person they say they are, including photo ID,” Karahalios told True North in an interview. “There should be tougher penalties for people who commit voter fraud, not just slap on the wrist. And there should be laws against voter fraud and internal party elections.”
He said that with all the concerns about foreign interference in Canada’s elections, governments in Canada, including Ontario, should be legislating new and strengthened protections to protect democracy against potential bad actors.