Should a former school trustee affiliated with the Burnaby Citizens Association be able to hold a top “non-partisan” role in running an election?
That’s the question an independent candidate in Burnaby-Deer Lake is asking about the riding’s district electoral officer – who happens to be former BCA school trustee Diana Mumford. Mumford held office from 2002 to 2011, when she opted not to run again.
Elias Ishak, who’s running as an independent in the riding, is raising a red flag about her presence in the electoral officer role, given that Elections B.C. says district electoral officers “are and must be perceived by the public as completely non-partisan,” as outlined on Elections B.C.’s website.
Ishak says the fact that Mumford served in office for the NDP-affiliated BCA – and, in fact, was on school board at the same time as current NDP candidate Anne Kang was on city council – means she can’t be perceived as “non-partisan.”
“I just think that’s common sense,” he said. “The obvious perception issue is there.”
Ishak added he has no reason to think poorly of Mumford.
“I’m not implying anything about her. I’m sure she’s a nice person; I don’t know her personally,” he said. “I just think that it’s a huge perception issue.”
Rick McGowan, who’s running for the B.C. Green Party in Burnaby-Deer Lake, agreed with Ishak. In fact, he said, when Mumford was named the deputy district electoral officer for the 2013 election, he spoke out.
“I did raise concerns with Elections B.C. at that time because of her past relationship with the BCA,” he said, noting that Elections B.C. assured him then that they were confident in her ability to do the job.
But McGowan said the perception of partisanship hasn’t gone away – and that it may be even more concerning this time out.
“If it’s close, which all indications are it will be, it is a concern,” he said. “The optics aren’t good.”
Mumford herself, however, said she’s not concerned that her past connections to the BCA and the fact that she served alongside Kang will affect her ability to do the job.
“Oh heavens no, oh gosh no,” she said emphatically, noting that although she knows many of the players in local politics, it’s also a natural part of having been involved in the South Slope community for many years.
“(Mayor) Derek Corrigan was my son’s soccer coach,” she said.
Mumford, who came into her school trustee position following work with school and district parent advisory councils, said she was motivated to run for school board not from any sense of partisanship but simply from a desire to work for the best possible education system for kids in Burnaby.
“My role wasn’t ‘political’ in that sense,” she said. “I’ve done an awful lot of things in the community.”
Mumford added she was always up front with Elections B.C. about her past involvement in local politics.
“We are vetted quite heavily,” she stressed, adding she does not live in Burnaby anymore and has no standing connections to Burnaby or contact with the BCA.
As far as being named district electoral officer for Burnaby-Deer Lake, Mumford said she applied for a number of different districts and it was Elections B.C. that chose the Deer Lake riding – likely, she says, because they felt that her knowledge of the area would be beneficial.
Mumford is quick to note that she’s no stranger to the world of elections, having first started working on elections when she was 19 years old.
“I’ve worked in elections for over 40 years,” she said, adding that she firmly believes in the independence and non-partisanship of the process. “That’s important; that perception needs to be very clear.”
Mumford said she’s very strict about that; in the office, there’s no discussion about partisan issues, and even visitors who come in to the office wearing partisan buttons are asked to cover them up.
“It is paramount that there be impartiality in every way, shape and form,” she said.
Andrew Watson, communications manager for Elections B.C., said non-partisanship is one of the key values of the elections organization. He noted that all 87 district electoral officers in the province (one for each riding) go through a competitive process to be hired, and part of that process is to ensure that they can carry out their role in a non-partisan way.
Watson noted it has been several years since Mumford held elected office and that there were no concerns about her conduct as the deputy district electoral officer in the 2013 election.
“We had no complaints or issues at all,” he said.
Watson said there is no policy prohibiting those who have formerly served in office from becoming district electoral officers.
“We judge the applications on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
As far as Mumford’s role is concerned, Watson noted she will oversee all administrative aspects of making the election happen in Burnaby-Deer Lake – hiring staff, overseeing the district electoral office (which also serves as an advance voting location), recruiting staff, planning voting places and the like. On election day, he said, district electoral officers are generally circulating around their district, travelling to the voting places to ensure everything is running smoothly.
District electoral officers don’t do ballot counting on election night, he noted, but they are responsible for managing the final count when absentee ballots are counted after election night.
Watson said it’s extremely rare for Elections B.C. to receive complaints due to the perception of biased or partisan actions of electoral officers.
And he said Elections B.C. stands behind the selection of Mumford.
“We have full confidence in her ability,” he said.
Ishak, however, remains unconvinced. He did lodge a complaint with Elections B.C. and had received a voicemail message saying someone would be happy to answer his questions, but he said Wednesday that he didn’t plan to follow it up.
“I’m not going to waste my time,” he said. “But I think that people should at least know about it.”
Mumford, meanwhile, said she has not received a call from Ishak and would be happy to discuss his concerns.
“If he’s got a specific complaint, great,” she said, though she added Elections B.C. has already addressed the issue of her “partisan” connections.
