Following a confusing and desperate 6 year RCMP investigation regarding allegations of identity theft and voter fraud, no charges will be laid.
The RCMP made the announcement on Friday at a press conference after an extremely long investigation into the United Conservative Party’s (UCP) 2017 leadership race, won by Jason Kenney.
The RCMP said there was “insufficient evidence to support a criminal charge.”
A total of $460,877 was spent on the investigation including overtime and travel expenses.
They mentioned “numbers like that can seem shocking” but the RCMP claimed “the amount of money (spent) was necessary.”
“Obviously we can’t speak for a taxpayer, but it’s clear this was an important investigation,” they added, also noting that it’s unusual to have a press conference about an investigation that led to no charges.
Some social media users have expressed disappointment in the RCMP, suggesting they wasted their time and money on a dead end.
Details of the investigation
Starting in 2019, the RCMP began investigating the 2017 UCP leadership race for allegations of identity theft and voter fraud.
Candidate Jeff Callaway was accused of entering the race with the intention to later drop out and endorse Jason Kenney, while attacking his competitor Brian Jean, and collecting money from voters who assumed he was a real candidate.
The RCMP found that Callaway generated roughly $95,000 from the election.
However they stated on Friday that they didn’t find evidence that proves he committed a criminal offense.
Voter fraud investigated
Allegations of voter fraud by using mail-in ballots were also investigated.
The RCMP received reports of emails being created to receive individuals PIN’s and vote on their behalf.
They found that multiple votes were cast under the same PIN, but police claimed there’s reasonable explanations for this to occur, such as families living in the same household using the same IP address or phone number.
As well, it was revealed that less than 200 votes were investigated for potential fraud, which would have had no impact on Kenney’s win.
No criminal charges were laid.
