TORONTO - Linda Jackson, who became mayor of Vaughan, Ont., in a nasty election battle last November, is now accused of more than 20 campaign financing violations.

Over-contributions from companies that may be associated and unrecorded contributions to Jackson's campaign are among the allegations in an appeal filed Monday in Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket, Ont.

In the appeal, Vaughan residents Quintino Mastroguiseppe and Gino Ruffolo are asking the court to force a compliance audit of Jackson's 2006 campaign finances.

The apparent contraventions of the Municipal Elections Act could total more than $30,000, Mastroguiseppe and Ruffolo allege in the court documents.

The total that mayoral candidates are allowed to spend under the Municipal Elections Act is a little more than $120,000.

Mastroguiseppe and Ruffolo had asked Vaughan council on May 14 to request a compliance audit.

On May 22, council voted to defer the request until Jackson's campaign had filed additional financial records, possibly as late as next February, said Eric Gillespie, the lawyer representing Mastroguiseppe and Ruffolo.

"The act only gives a council 30 days to accept or reject the request for an audit,'' Gillespie said. "It does not give any power to delay matters for another nine months or more.''

Several companies listed in Jackson's financial statement have the same address and directors, Mastroguiseppe said in an affidavit filed with the court.

"Based on this information, there appear to be reasonable grounds to believe that these corporations are associated corporations as defined under Section 256 of the Income Tax Act,'' he said.

In one example, four such companies each contributed the $750 maximum.

"These donations appear to create over-contributions totalling $2,250,'' in contravention of the Municipal Elections Act, he said.

Mastroguiseppe also alleges at least one constituent told him she made a cash donation of $200 at a fundraising event.

The donation is "in excess of the maximum $25 cash donation,'' and the woman's name "does not appear to be included'' in Jackson's financial statement, he said in his affidavit.

The fair market value of Jackson's campaign office was at least $10,000 more than the figure reported, Mastroguiseppe also alleges. Under the Municipal Elections Act, any difference between the amount paid by a candidate for a good or service and its actual fair market value is considered a contribution.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

Jackson was declared the winner of the Nov. 12, 2006, election on April 26 after a court-ordered recount determined she beat rival Michael Di Biase by 90 votes.

Di Biase, the former mayor, had been pushing for a fresh election after losing to Jackson in the bitterly contested race.

The city had used electronic voting machines that reject ballots on the basis of how much they are shaded in - a method Di Biase said may have discredited 1,600 votes.

The election race included vandalism of campaign signs and allegations someone hacked into Jackson's office e-mail.

York Region police Chief Armand La Barge said in March police would not lay charges in the e-mail allegations following a four-month review.

More than 20 pages of e-mail printouts appeared on Di Biase's doorstep during the campaign.

The leaked correspondence included allegations of sexual improprieties and forgeries involving Vaughan city staff.

Last year, then-Hamilton mayor Larry Di Ianni become the first public official to be found guilty of violating the Municipal Elections Act.

He pleaded guilty Thursday to six election violations, while 35 other charges were dropped.

Di Ianni, who was accused of accepting illegal donations to his 2003 mayoral campaign, said all illegal donations were accepted in error.