Clara Morin Dal Col Appeals Decision of the Chief Electoral Officer
(August 6, 2024) Clara Morin Dal Col is appealing the decision of the Chief Electoral Officer to deny her, her right to seek the Presidency of Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) in the upcoming September General Election. The former MNBC President is appealing to the MNBC Senate to consider her appeal as soon as possible and to issue an immediate order to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) that overrules his decision rejecting her nomination.
In making her appeal, Ms. Morin Dal Col alleges among other grounds that the CEO errored by overstepping the limits of the MNBC Electoral Act and basing his decision on a biased and flawed “outside legal opinion”.
To try and better understand how the CEO arrived at the decision to deny her nomination, Ms. Morin Dal Col said that in three separate emails to the CEO she sought answers to specific questions, but he has failed to provide answers to any of her questions.
She said, “The CEO is in his position to administer the elections process in a fair and impartial manner under the provisions of the MNBC Electoral Act. It is not within his role or authority to interpret articles within the MNBC Constitution which are not referenced in the Electoral Act. By rejecting my candidacy based on a flawed interpretation of Article 23.8 of the Constitution, an Article which is not at all referenced in the MNBC Electoral Act, the CEO has errored and overstepped his authority.”
The candidate for President said, “I personally submitted my nomination papers at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer on the morning of July 23, 2024 well ahead of the deadline. I complied with each and every applicable requirement for candidates for President as outlined in Article 8 of the Electoral Act, including providing my RCMP Criminal Record Check which showed no offences. My nomination papers were signed by more than sixty MNBC citizens, three times the required number. Even though I complied with all the provisions of the Electoral Act and all my papers were in order, what would make the CEO decide to seek an outside legal opinion, when did he make that decision and on what basis?”
She said, “If his decision is allowed to stand, it will be a travesty of Métis democracy. Because of the coup that removed me from the office of President more than three and half years ago, just four months after receiving a strong mandate from the people in 2020, I’m being prevented from running once again.”
Ms. Morin Dal Col said, “Why is the current group of Board members so afraid of me running? Are they afraid that if I’m elected a new Board will carry through with our commitment to do a full financial review and disclose to the citizens the true state of MNBC finances? You better believe we will carry through with our commitment because our Métis people have every right to know.”
She said, “This is an urgent matter and I want the MNBC Senate to consider my appeal at the earliest possible time.”
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(For more information about the Clara Morin Dal Col Team click on the link below):
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