Tony Luck challenges election process in Merritt

MERRITT — Tony Luck, who finished second in the October 2022 municipal election in Merritt, has filed a petition with the B.C. Supreme Court.

While Luck was not able to provide extensive details to Q101, he did confirm that he is not looking to overturn the results of the vote, however he must proceed through that process in order to challenge the handling and counting of the ballots. He agreed that Mike Goetz is the legitimate Mayor of Merritt.

“We are aware of the petition that has been filed. We are confident in the integrity of the election and look forward to it being adjudicated by the courts,” Greg Lowis, Chief Election Officer for Merritt.

Mayor Goetz recognized that Luck has every right to seek this legal action but he said he finds it discourteous.

“He has every right to do that, it’s a part of the whole system of being Canadian,” said Merritt Mayor Mike Goetz. “We’ll see where it goes. The only thing I find a little disturbing about this is that it’s kind of disrespectful to all the people that showed up at 7:00 o’clock in the morning and counted votes till 4:30 [the next morning] and to everybody else that was involved. I think it’s a little bit of a slap in the face to those people.”

More details to come.