WINDSOR -- A political science professor in Windsor believes Essex Mayor Larry Snively should step down for a period of time after he was accused of misusing proxy voters.
OPP announced on Wednesday it has charged Snively, 65, with procuring persons to vote in a municipal election when those persons were not entitled to do so.
Lydia Miljan told AM800's The Morning Drive, to allow for Essex council to move forward without any distractions, Snively should step down while the Municipal Elections Act charge is dealt with in court.
Miljan believes the integrity of the election and the abilities of council are at stake.
"On one hand he obviously has the right [of] innocent until proven guilty and has the presumption of innocence," she says. "Ultimately it is a decision for Mr. Snively to make but it does put into question the ability for Essex council to move forward."
The maximum fine for the charge is $25,000 with the potential for jail time up to six months, according to Miljan.
"What I found particularly interesting about the [municipal] act is that if someone is to have benefited from an illegal act, if that's what got them in the job and a byelection is called, then they would actually have to pay for the costs of that byelection," she says. "So it's a pretty significant consequence if someone is convicted."
The investigation followed complaints received by police of proxy ballots being signed without proper consent in the October 2018 municipal election. Proxy ballots are used to give someone permission to vote on behalf of another person.
Miljan says it's highly unusual for charges to be laid from a municipal perspective.
"We've seen this on the federal side," she said. "If you think back to the 2011 and 2015 campaigns where there was allegations or robo-calls against the federal Conservatives misleading the public to go to the wrong polling stations, but this idea of a proxy vote I think is unique to the Municipal Elections Act."
Ron Rogers ran for mayor in the 2018 municipal election and finished second.
He feels Snively needs to step down as mayor and also should step down immediately from the police services board.
"It's unfortunate that Essex has made the headlines so much in the last number of years for unfortunately negative issues," Rogers told AM800 News on Wednesday. "I do feel that we have some good people on our council right now and they will, I hope, step up to the plate and handle things as best as they can."
Snively has retaind defence lawyer Patrick Ducharm and will appear in court March 30, 2020