Trial linked to 'ballot box stuffing' begins

One of the key figures in a municipal election scandalwill go on trial in Calgary on Monday.

David Aftergood, husband of Ward 10 candidate Margot Aftergood, faces charges of requesting a ballot in someone else's name and supplying a ballot to another person.

Aftergood's trial is scheduled to run five days and several dozen witnesses may be called.

His brother, campaign manager Ron Aftergood,along withcampaign volunteer Son Nguyen have already pleaded guilty to one count each under the Local Authorities Election Act and were fined$4,000 and $1,500 respectively.

The current alderman for Ward 10, Andre Chabot, said the relatively small fines diminish what a provincial inspection called "an unsuccessful attempt at computer-assisted ballot box stuffing."

"My concern is: So far all we've seen is a monetary fine," Chabot said, "and from my perspective I don't think that's adequate."

Mail-in ballots requested

The city received more than 1,200 internet requests for ballots in Ward 10 just before the last municipal election in October 2004.

Those requests all came from two computers asking the city to send mail-in ballots to the same post box in a northeast Calgary strip mall.

At the time, Margot Aftergood said the postal box had been rented by her husband David, but that they'd done nothing wrong. She said they had simply taken requests from people in the community and obtained ballots on their behalf, passing them along to the voters.

Aftergood resigned in November after thecity agreed to pay 60 per cent of her legal costs.

In total,five peoplewere charged under the Elections Act after the election. Anh Pham and Thanh Pham are still before the courts.