A group of voters in Canada have taken their provincial government to court for allegedly lying during an election campaign.
In 1996 the government in British Columbia was returned to power on a promise that it would balance the provincial budget.
Soon after the election though the government said it could not keep that promise.
A group of voters says the government deliberately lied and committed fraud to hold on to power.
'Another political lie'
When it began this case sounded trivial, almost laughable.
Three voters were angry at what they saw as another political lie.
The British Columbia government campaigned for re-election in 1996 on a promise of a balanced budget, that for the first time in years there would be no deficit spending.
But that balanced budget never happened.
The voters say they cast ballots for the party specifically because of that promise, and they filed charges of election fraud.
And now, after years of preliminary legal battles and to the surprise of many, the case is actually being heard.
Civil servants' warning
The court has heard civil servants say they warned that there was no way the books would balance.
Ministers have testified they were very optimistic in their projections, trusting a sudden improvement in the economy would help them meet their promise. But they insist they never lied.
If the court finds they did commit fraud during the election, three sitting members of the legislature could lose their seats. That would almost certainly force a new provincial election.
The government is now deeply unpopular for a series of financial scandals. Current opinion polls suggest they would be very unlikely to win again, no matter how careful their campaign pledges.