The courtroom drama is over for Penny Duperron. Now she waits for the judge to render his decision in her legal battle against School District 53.

Justice Peter Rogers admitted it’s a very interesting case involving the Osoyoos school trustee candidate who was representing herself in Kelowna court last week.

Duperron is challenging the school board’s handling of November’s by-election that saw her finish 40 votes behind winner Casey Brouwer. She pointed out the fact the board did not adhere to the Local Government Act because it only held one advance poll instead of two. Chief Election Officer Lynda Minnabarriet admitted the error but the board left it up to the candidates or the electors to challenge it. So Duperron did by filing an application to the BC Supreme Court.

The candidate said her fight is based on principle, not sour grapes, arguing that the voters’ rights were infringed upon by having only one advance poll. She believes a second advance poll may have changed the election results.

However, board chair Marieze Tarr said the election was conducted in good faith and the failure to hold a second advance poll did not materially affect the result of the election.

She also said the Act does anticipate the possibility of errors.

Duperron said the school board’s defence team tried to intimidate her early on, and lawyer Marie Watmough attempted to get the case dismissed on a technicality, but that didn’t work.

Duperron said Justice Rogers became angry and chastised the defence for asking for an adjournment in the middle of winter break.

He then ordered the defence to appear the next day with its argument and a $500 cheque for Duperron’s time in court. She said the last words he said to the lawyer were, “You better bring a cheque tomorrow.”

In court last Thursday, Duperron spoke about how statistics can be skewed to show anything that people want to see. She referred to Watmough’s speculation that it would have taken another 1,000 voters to show up (in a second advance poll) to change the election’s outcome.

According to Duperron, Justice Roger’s response was, “There’s lies, damn lies and statistics.”

“That’s all that the school board lawyer had in her arsenal to defend the school board’s position,” Duperron said.

However, Watmough cited the board’s earlier defence that the failure to hold a second advance poll did not materially affect the end result.

The lawyer pointed out that Duperron was the only individual who raised concerns about the by-election. She stated that nobody contacted the school board or the media with concerns about not being able to vote in a second poll.

In her response, Duperron presented three possible scenarios based on manipulation of the statistics that the defence had provided. But she told Justice Rogers that none of the statistics provided by her or the school board should be considered reliable.

“I reminded Justice Rogers that no matter how good the polling is, no matter how much we already know, predictions have been proven to be unreliable.”

In response to the contention that the Osoyoos community doesn’t care about the issue, Duperron spoke about the comments and backlash through social media. She noted there is an absence of credibility that the school board has in the community.

“Contacting the school board with a concern is like hitting your head against a brick wall, so why would anyone contact them?”

Duperron said the school board is still unable to provide any real proof that a second advance polling opportunity would not have affected the election’s outcome.

“I reminded the court, and quoted case law, to show that after establishing the existence of a significant irregularity, the onus is on the respondents (school board and Minnabarriet) to prove it did not have a material affect on the results.”

Duperron said the important word here is “prove” – not “think” or “believe.”

She also reminded the court that the Local Government Act was drafted by a duly elected body, and that the school board was required to follow the rules that this elected body put in place.

The judge’s decision is expected next week.

By Lyonel Doherty