Tamara Goeppel pleads not guilty to Yukon election charges
The trial for the Liberal candidate in Whitehorse Centre in November's election may take five days
Tamara Goeppel, a Liberal candidate in last fall's Yukon election, has pleaded not guilty to three charges under the Yukon Elections Act.
Goeppel ran in the Whitehorse Centre riding where she lost to New Democrat incumbent Liz Hanson.
During the election campaign, a downtown resident told CBC he was asked by Goeppel to cast a proxy ballot for someone he did not know. He said Goeppel told him the person felt too "intimidated" to vote.
RCMP then said they received correspondence during the election campaign from Yukon's Chief Electoral Officer regarding possible offences under the act. Police charged Goeppel in February.
She's charged with:
- Two counts of aiding or abetting persons in making proxy applications that were not in accordance with Section 106 of the Act;
- One count of inducing persons to falsely declare on proxy applications that they would be absent from the Yukon during the hours fixed for voting.
Richard Fowler, a Vancouver lawyer representing Goeppel, entered the not guilty pleas on her behalf in Yukon Territorial Court in Whitehorse on Friday afternoon. Goeppel was not in the courtroom.
Fowler said he expects the trial could take up to five days. The trial date is to be set at the end of the month.