An anonymous letter has sparked a police probe into allegations of vote tampering in Mississauga's civic election.
Officers received the missive Dec. 3 and fraud investigators are looking into it, said Peel Regional Police Constable Wayne Patterson, adding that officers want the letter-writer to come forward to provide them with additional details.
“To prove this without a doubt would take someone coming forward to show us,” he said.
Mayoral candidate George Winter says he received in the mail Friday a copy of the letter, which he provided to The Globe and Mail. In it, the writer claims returns in all the races on Oct. 25 were falsified.
It alleges that Mayor Hazel McCallion's vote totals were doubled and that two defeated incumbent councillors, Carmen Corbasson and Carolyn Parrish, had actually won.
“I do not know who else to send this to or who controls or overlooks a situation like this with election results,” writes the author. “I will say my name is Fred for now.”
While the letter provides other details on the races that were allegedly tampered with, it appears to contain no direct evidence and few specifics on how the supposed vote-rigging actually worked.
The city itself all but dismissed the allegations.
“We stand behind the election process and thoroughly challenge the claims brought against us,” said city manager Janice Baker in a statement. “This is an attack on the City’s reputation and we await the outcome of this investigation to put to rest any question about the integrity of this election.”
