The official in charge of the BC NDP leadership race has recommended that candidate Anjali Appadurai be disqualified following an investigation into a wave of new membership registrations during the campaign, according to a leaked report.
The investigation found that Appadurai, 32, broke campaign rules by improperly coordinating with third parties to encourage more people to sign up to join the party before Sept. 4 to vote in the leadership career.
“Since no other remedy can adequately address the deficiencies and failings of the Appadurai campaign in this leadership election contest, the CEO has come to the difficult conclusion that Ms. Appadurai should be disqualified as a candidate,” says the ‘report, written by the head of the BC NDP. election officer Elizabeth Cull and was leaked on Tuesday.
“Improper coordination … played such a large role in Appadurai’s campaign that it is impossible to create a level playing field at this point and therefore impossible to restore the leadership election campaign to a state of integrity in which I could trust.”
Appadurai’s disqualification would leave former Attorney General and Housing Minister David Eby as the only eligible candidate to succeed Prime Minister John Horgan, who is due to resign on December 3.
Appadurai, at the podium, speaks to reporters in Vancouver on Wednesday. Appadurai has run her campaign by following the rules of the leadership race and has been treated unfairly in the process. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
A party decision on Appadurai’s candidature is expected after Wednesday night’s meeting.
Appadurai said she expects to be kicked out of the race, calling it a sign the party is trying to “control a situation” where she has drawn far more supporters than Eby, who has the support of most NDP cabinet members .
“It was the politics of the campaign, not the process, personnel or tactics, that attracted the membership it did,” he wrote in a series of tweets.
“I think my campaign has been treated unfairly from the beginning. I also want to be clear that we followed the rules, we acted with integrity and we tried to make this a contest of ideas.
“It’s in all our interests to allow members to decide the next leader.”
Appadurai, 32, during his press conference on Wednesday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Officials investigated several allegations
Elections BC and the NDP began investigating Appadurai’s campaign after receiving complaints that Dogwood BC’s involvement represented a prohibited political contribution. Dogwood is an environmental group dedicated to getting voters more involved in politics.
Officials were also investigating allegations that an Appadurai supporter offered to pay $10 from NDP members and that the campaign encouraged members of the BC Greens to temporarily leave their party to join the NDP and vote for Appadurai.
The report found Dogwood used emails, paid ads and phone banks in an effort to recruit NDP supporters in time to vote.
He also said Appadurai told supporters on an Aug. 6 Zoom call that the organizations would help him sign up hundreds of new members, with a goal of 1,000 new signups in less than two days.
As a solution to the “inappropriate” increase in membership, Cull considered banning new members who signed up after the August 6 meeting from voting. He decided against it after determining that the measure would also disqualify voters who have properly registered.
“This potential remedy does nothing to address the CEO’s serious concerns about Ms. Appadurai’s lack of accountability for violations committed in connection with her campaign and her distressingly indifferent attitude to her obligations as a leadership candidate.” , Cull said.
The Appadurai campaign launches a petition
In response to the report, Appadurai’s campaign launched a petition – Let Her Run – asking the NDP to allow party members to choose their leader, rather than the executive, or risk “making a mockery of the ‘democrat’ in the NDP”.
Complaints to the NDP in August included an official from Eby’s campaign, according to the report.
Appadurai, a former federal NDP candidate and longtime activist, launched her campaign that month with an emphasis on addressing environmental and human rights issues.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, he said he didn’t have details on the exact number of new NDP members his campaign won, but said he heard it might have reached 14,000.
The issue could end up in court, the expert says
Hamish Telford, a professor of political science at the University of the Fraser Valley, said he was surprised by the report’s recommendation despite the seriousness of the allegations.
“I’m a little surprised that they’ve decided to go for the maximum penalty here, which is to kick her out of the race, instead of exposing some lesser penalties like disqualifying members, fining her campaign, or maybe something else.” Telford. he said Wednesday during an interview with CBC’s The Early Edition.
“There will be questions of due process here…did Ms. Appadurai really have an opportunity to defend herself? Was due process followed? What was the methodology of the audit that led to the conclusion that there were there many fraudulent acts?new members in the party?
“If Ms. Appadurai’s legal team finds that there were problems with the process that was followed … then I think maybe we could see that going to court.”
When asked if Appadurai planned to take legal action or file an injunction, her media relations coordinator told CBC “we have no comment on any future actions Anjali or the campaign will take.”
LISTEN | The political science professor assesses the report recommending Appadurai’s disqualification:
The Early Edition6:32 The political scientist reacts to the upcoming vote to disqualify Anjali Appadurai
The BC NDP will vote tonight on whether or not to disqualify Anjali Appadurai, after allegations that the climate activist and leadership aspirant engaged in “serious misconduct.” We asked political science professor Hamish Telford to get his reaction.