Two appeals have been filed on the grounds that no secret ballots were offered at the June 14 Ontario Power agreement referendum vote in Akwesasne, where just a handful of the population turned out to endorse a nearly $46-million compensation deal.
"We've had two appeals," confirmed Mohawk council CAO Sheree Bonaparte. "I can't get into how many affidavits."
Bonaparte said the matter is now with the Mohawk Court, which has 14 days to make a decision on the appeals.
The appeals were filed in the two days following the referendum, which was set to address long-standing grievancesstemmingfromtheconstructionof theR. H. Saunders power dam.
Francis Ateronhiatakon Boots, past district chief of the Kawehnoke District of Akwesasne, is one of the appellants.
VOTES WOULD HAVE CHANGED
He was unavailable for comment, but his appeal letter to the Mohawk council states that more than "50 per cent of 123 votes cast as 'yes' votes would have been votes cast as 'no', had the voters not been required to vote on tables in plain view of the Electoral Returning Officers."
Boots described a scene where residents who voted 'no' actually had to turn their backs to the election officers.
Meanwhile, those who supported the agreement made their vote clearly known, voting face on.
"In a free and open democratic voting process, secret balloting is key,"
Boots wrote to the council.
The Vote No Campaign, which Boots is a part of, has stated that many in the Akwesasne community felt "intimidated" by the process.
The group believes this contributed to the dismal voter turnout on such an important issue.
"Just over 200 votes were recorded out of a population of over 10,000 with an outcome of 123 'yes' to 86 'no'," the group stated in a recent news release.
Boots attempted to address his issues with the referendum process at a meeting before June 14.