B.C.'s chief electoral officer, Harry Neufeld has refused to provide an opinion on whether the B.C. Liberals attracted votes with misleading information in the 2009 election campaign.

Neufeld's decision came a month before his term is set to expire. He hasn't publicly indicated if he will seek to be reappointed by a special legislative committee.

Last week, Vancouver lawyer Peter Dimitrov wrote to Elections B.C. seeking a review.

In his letter, Dimitrov asked if the B.C. Liberals' approach to the harmonized sales tax during the last campaign nullified or prejudiced the rights of voters. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees that every citizen has the right to vote for members of a legislative assembly.

In a reply on behalf of Neufeld, Elections B.C. executive program manager Amie Foster wrote: "Elections BC cannot speculate on the reasons people vote for a particular candidate, or what factors influence their votes. Additionally, the Election Act is silent with regard to the content of election campaigns."

Foster closed her letter by declaring, "The office does not have authority to question the validity of the election in that regard and will not offer an opinion on that matter."

In an e-mail to the Georgia Straight, Dimitrov, a former NDP provincial leadership candidate, wrote that he sees a need for legislative reform, which would strengthen the democratic rights of citizens prior to, during, and following election campaigns.

Dimitrov stated that this "will ensure the concealment, deception, misrepresentations, etc. by a political candidate can be remedied by Elections BC acting to protect the larger public interest, rather than leaving it up to citizens to initiate and finance expensive court actions to seek a remedy".

Elections B.C. spokesperson Don Main told the Straight that the office is following up on a request by Finance Minister Colin Hansen for an opinion. This concerns whether an initiative campaign led by former premier Bill Vander Zalm is obtaining signatures on the basis of misleading information.

Neufeld's term as chief electoral officer expires on June 4. Under the Election Act, Neufeld may be reappointed to further terms of office.

The chief electoral officer's term covers two elections plus one year and the pay is the equivalent to that of a provincial court judge. In 2008-09, Neufeld collected $251,684, according to the public accounts.

Under the Election Act, the chief electoral officer must be unanimously recommended by a special committee of the legislature, which would include members of the B.C. Liberals and the NDP.

Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.