Less than a fortnight away from Alberta’s provincial referendum, the Alberta NDP is seeking legal action to obtain a list containing voters’ personal details, which the UCP government restricted with recent changes. The Official Opposition’s legal representatives were at the Edmonton Court of King’s Bench requesting an urgent injunction against the September 17 regulation that temporarily limits scrutineers’ access to identifying information.
The regulation was put in place after a data breach earlier this year, where a voters list meant for the Republican Party of Alberta ended up with a third-party advertiser called the Centurion Project. This breach led to the information being publicly available online, prompting investigations by the RCMP, Alberta’s privacy commissioner, and Elections Alberta.
The NDP has expressed concerns about how this regulation will affect scrutineers’ ability to oversee the upcoming referendum on October 19 and how it will impact the party’s communication with voters. The Alberta government defended the regulation in court, emphasizing that scrutineers do not necessarily need the voters list to observe the process and that alternative communication methods, such as billboards, can be used without requiring voters’ personal information.
Justice John Gill is yet to make a decision after hearing arguments from both sides and representatives from Elections Alberta. The referendum will involve 10 questions covering immigration, constitutional matters, and the possibility of Alberta’s independence. The temporary regulation on voter information is set to expire on December 31, with plans to introduce legislation in the fall to enhance the protection of voter data.
The voters list includes names, addresses, phone numbers, and unique identifiers of electors, and is typically provided to registered political parties. The Alberta NDP’s lawyer mentioned in court that although they possess a voters list from June 2025, a significant number of new voters have moved to the province or updated their contact information since then, potentially losing the opportunity to engage with them on referendum issues.
During the court proceedings, it was argued that the government and Elections Alberta could have taken different measures to safeguard voter privacy when the initial breach occurred. The government’s decision to limit access to voter information was framed as a temporary measure considering the privacy concerns of a large number of voters.