BROOKS, ALTA — Alberta’s election watchdog has admonished a voter for casting multiple ballots in a provincial election — the first such offence on record, according to officials.

It may not be the last, as Elections Alberta, the agency tasked with governing provincial elections, confirmed it has uncovered other instances of double voting through its ongoing review of the 2019 election, which wrapped up in April.

The Office of the Election Commissioner released few details on its website late last week about the infraction, in which Kevin Cenina of Brooks, Alta., was slapped with a letter of reprimand for violating the Elections Act because he “voted more than once in the same election.”

While the commissioner’s office remained fairly tight-lipped, an apologetic Cenina maintained the incident was an innocent mistake, one he had hoped to rectify by notifying authorities soon after he realized his flub.

“It’s an honest mistake,” Cenina told the Star Edmonton when reached at his home in the small, southern Alberta town of Brooks, about a two-hour drive southeast of Calgary.

“There’s not a hidden agenda or intention to do otherwise,” he said. “Even if I did, what gain will it benefit me, right?”

Cenina arrived in Canada from the Philippines in 2008, but didn’t receive his citizenship until earlier this year. He lives in Brooks with his wife and three daughters, works at the JBS beef packing plant, runs an autoworks business, and plays the guitar.

“Canada has given me so much opportunity,” he said. “When the time comes that I can do something, you know, to take up on my rights and do something, to be a part of the community, I was just excited because I’ve been here a long time.”

But he says the excitement of voting for the first time as a Canadian citizen was so enthralling he accidentally did it twice.

When advanced polls for the provincial election opened April 9, Cenina headed to a station in town to cast a ballot after declaring his identity, which people can do if they are not already registered voters.

When Election Day arrived a week later, Cenina says he learned he was on the voting list at a different polling station.

Believing it was possible that Canada’s elections were similar to those in his native Philippines where elections are held at the same time for multiple orders of government, Cenina headed out to vote for the second time.

An official there confirmed his identification, he said. But the names on the card seemed familiar and it quickly dawned on him that he’d made a big mistake.

“The feeling was from ecstatic and excited to confused and worried,” he said. “So I have to make it right, I have to let them know.”

Cenina said he immediately went to an official at the ballot boxes and that they told him to report it to an Elections Alberta office, which he said he did.

Cenina said he’s never been part of or volunteered for a political party in Alberta before.

However, in considering the case, it appears Cenina’s explanation wasn’t enough for the Office of the Election Commissioner before it issued a letter of reprimand.

The office, headed by Election Commissioner Lorne Gibson, and Elections Alberta wouldn’t comment on the specifics of Cenina’s case.

Steve Kaye, senior investigations manager with the election commissioner’s office, suggested the office wouldn’t severely punish a person who may be new to the country for getting confused and accidentally voting twice, adding that there’s a significant difference between that scenario and a voter who intentionally tried to exploit the system.

“That’s why the commissioner has an obligation to consider the circumstances associated with the violation,” Kaye said.

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While it was a first for Alberta — Cenina became the very first resident to ever be reprimanded for voting twice in a provincial election — it may only be the first of several reprimands related to double voting. Elections Alberta, which oversees the election process, told the Star it has uncovered other potential cases during its ongoing review of the 2019 provincial election.

While Elections Alberta has investigated instances of double voting in the past, none led to an offence or prosecution, Elections Alberta director of communications Pamela Renwick said.

“The capacity to issue letters of reprimand is a newer provision in the Election Act, so, when looking farther back, the only documentation that would exist regarding these offences would be prosecutions,” Renwick said. “There have been no prosecutions of double voting in Alberta.”

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While Elections Alberta has uncovered other potential instances of double voting in the 2019 provincial election, she could not disclose how many or whether those cases have been passed to the election commission for further investigation.

“We’re still in the process of going through all the paperwork from the election,” Renwick said.

“We’ll continue to pass anything that we find that appears to be an instance of double voting, and it doesn’t mean that it is.”

In turn, Kaye said the office notifies any individual involved about the outcome of the investigation as well as any remedy or penalty. As of July 2018, Elections Alberta has handed off investigatory power to the Office of the Election Commissioner.

It’s unlikely the commissioner is referring the Cenina case to a prosecutor since multiple voting isn’t dealt with under some other piece of law, said Renwick. Under the Election Act in Alberta, he can either issue a letter of reprimand, an administrative penalty or refer the situation to a prosecutor, she said.

Kaye did confirm Cenina wouldn’t be receiving a fine on top of the letter of reprimand for voting twice.

Even though the experience turned sour for Cenina, he said he’s still proud to be a Canadian citizen.

“For me, it’s like being officially a part of a community. They can tell you, ‘OK, I’m a Canadian,’ but what did you do? Are you a part of anything? I can say, ‘I’m an elector,’” he said.

“I can say that. I’m proud of it. I may not be proud of what happened but hey, it’s like you said, it is what it is.”

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