Amid accusations of fraud from a rival party, the Liberal candidate in Chatham-Kent-Leamington has withdrawn from the provincial election.
Audrey Festeryga announced her intention to step away from the election in a statement on Thursday, accusing the NDP of making “relentless personal attacks” against her.
“I have made the difficult decision to withdraw as the Liberal candidate for Chatham-Kent-Leamington, in order to protect my family and my name,” Festeryga said in her statement. “This decision was also made based on my personal sense of morals and ethics.”
Festeryga’s decision to remove herself from the election race comes just over a week after the NDP level accusations that the Liberal candidate had filed fraudulent documentation when submitting her nomination papers.
“I have been a Liberal candidate in this area in three Federal Elections. In this provincial election, Elections Ontario has verified my candidacy. No other candidates have raised any concerns about my nomination,” Festeryga said.
According to the NDP, Festeryga allegedly submitted electoral signatures collected by former CKL candidate Alec Mazurek. Mazurek was terminated by his party on May 12, mere hours before the nomination deadline, after it was revealed that he had used a homophobic slur on social media.
According to the Election Act, the 25 elector signatures needed to submit a nomination must be for the specified candidate.
Former Essex NDP MPP Taras Natyshak doubled down on the allegations on Wednesday during a press conference, where he said four individuals have come forward to the party indicating that they did not provide their signatures for Festeryga’s nomination. The NDP has also alleged a local Elections Ontario official working in Chatham informed them that a mistake was made in accepting Festeryga’s nomination papers.
In an email provided to CKXS News earlier this week, Elections Ontario confirmed to the NDP that it is investigating the allegations.
The Liberal Party told CKXS News earlier this week that it had planned to stand behind Festeryga.
“Our lawyers have looked into the NDP complaint and we are very confident the nomination of our candidate Audrey Festeryga is perfectly valid,” Press Secretary Andrea Ernesaks said in an email.
The Election Act, s. 30 2(b)) states that ballots already cast for the withdrawn candidate are counted as rejected.