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IQALUIT - A candidate in one of the tightest races in the territorial election of November 2008 says some of the votes cast may not have been legitimate.

Iqaluit mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik wants Elections Nunavut to explain to her why people who don't live in Iqaluit West were allowed to vote in the riding.

Iqaluit West candidate Elisapee Sheutiapik is comforted by supporter Hannah Uniuqsaraq upon hearing the results in her riding on election night last October. Sheutiapik, who lost her bid to unseat Paul Okalik by only 44 votes, says there were at least 22 ineligible voters who cast ballots in Iqaluit West. - NNSL file photo

"I had one scrutineer tell me her own sister voted in a riding she didn't live in," Sheutiapik said. "This election was a good turnout. Maybe it was too busy for scrutineers to guide people."

Sheutiapik lost the Iqaluit West riding to incumbent MLA and now former Nunavut premier Paul Okalik. Okalik won by 44 votes, 340 to 296.

Sheutiapik argued the narrow margin is questionable since she and her staffers have identified 22 voters who should not have been allowed to cast ballots in Iqaluit West, because they are either residents of other parts of Iqaluit or have lived in Nunavut less than a year.

She wants Elections Nunavut to send her the 2008 voters' list so she can investigate further. Elections Nunavut never got back to her.

"There was never a response," she said. "Not even an acknowledgement letter, which is scary for me. How do we know these things didn't come up in other elections?"

Chief Returning Officer Sandy Kusugak said she when she received Sheutiapik's letter in November 2008 she assumed she was being notified in parallel with the RCMP.

"Any complaints about people breaking the law including the Nunavut Elections Act go the RCMP," said Kusugak. She said Elections Nunavut sends materials to candidates which explains things like this.

Kusugak also said she can't share the voters' list because of privacy concerns. Candidates receive voters' lists going into an election but they are expected to return or destroy them after it's done. The winning candidates get access to voters' lists so they can keep in touch with their constituents.

The RCMP is investigating Sheutiapik's complaint.

Sheutiapik is also asking for clarity on the eligibility of students living Nunavut Arctic College's Ukkivik residence to vote in the Iqaluit West riding. She compared Ukkivik to Nunavut Sivuniksavut in Ottawa, where students get special ballots to vote in their home communities for afar, and said the same should apply to Ukkivik residents.

A staffer from Elections Nunavut told Nunavut News/North students have the choice of whether to vote in their home communities or in Iqaluit West because some may choose to live in Iqaluit after graduation.

Sheutiapik responded, "That's very inconsistent in my view. In my view if they are going to stay in Iqaluit then they shouldn't be staying in the residence. The residence is for students outside the community."