The Simcoe-Grey Federal Liberal Riding Association has added its voice to those in 56 other Canadian ridings who allege they were the target of voter suppression during the last federal election.
While no phony “robocalls” are alleged to have taken place here, Nathan Grundy, the campaign manager for Liberal candidate Alex Smardenka during the election, released a statement Thursday that said he received reports of several people receiving calls late on the evening of April 13, 2011 from someone claiming to be calling on behalf of Smardenka.
The tone of the calls was “rude and disturbing,” according to the reports, with the caller angrily chastising the person on the receiving end if they said they hadn’t yet made up their mind on who they were voting for.
People who received the calls also reported hearing background noise that sounded like several other people asking the same questions as they were being asked.
According to Grundy’s statement, the local Liberals have confirmed that the calls did not originate from their campaign, from the Liberal central campaign or Prime Contact, the third party voter ID company contracted by the Smardenka campaign.
The local Liberal Riding Association has contacted Elections Canada, but was told that any complaints had to be lodged by the people who received the calls. Grundy, however, said that none of the complainants were prepared to go on the record.
Reached for comment, Simcoe-Grey MP Kellie Leitch denied any knowledge of or connection to the calls. “I ran a clean and positive campaign, and that’s reflected in the numbers,” she said. “If they have any real evidence of these calls, I encourage them to take it to Elections Canada.”