Alberta NDP files court challenge over province’s new restricted voter list rules

Alberta’s Opposition NDP is challenging the legality of new government rules that severely restrict the amount of voter information elections officials can share with political parties.

In a court application filed Thursday in Edmonton, the NDP argue the new policy undermines the purpose of having a voter list as laid out in provincial law and that it should be struck down.

The government’s new rules, published last week, say Elections Alberta can only provide political parties with copies of the voter list containing the number of voters in each voting area and municipality.

It’s a major change, as parties used to be provided first and last names, addresses, phone numbers and unique voter identification numbers.

Justice Minister Mickey Amery’s office has said the policy was temporary and was meant to keep Albertans’ private information more secure after a major privacy breach involving a separatist group earlier this year.

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi says he’s concerned it could open the door to voter fraud in the Oct. 19 referendum, as scrutineers overseeing the ballot count won’t have the information needed to make sure people aren’t voting multiple times.

Amery’s office did not immediately respond to questions about the court challenge.

The province’s official voter list is managed by Elections Alberta and copies are distributed to political parties, legislators, election candidates and constituency associations for activities such as campaigns and fundraising.

Elections Alberta said last week that it will still be using the detailed voter list to manage and keep track of voters in the referendum.