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EDMONTON — A lawyer for the Alberta government argued Tuesday that temporary restrictions on what voter information can be provided to political parties won’t affect the upcoming referendum.
Mandy England made the comment in a court challenge launched by the Opposition NDP against the new rules.
The rules, published last month, say Elections Alberta can only provide parties with the number of voters in each voting area and municipality.
It’s a major shift, as parties had access to lists with first and last names, addresses and postal codes, phone numbers and identification numbers for each registered voter in the province.
The NDP is asking the court to quash the changes, saying they go beyond what the government can do without passing legislation and undermine the purpose of voter lists as laid out in provincial law.
The NDP also said it’s concerned the rules threaten the integrity of the Oct. 19 referendum and the ability for scrutineers to properly analyze the vote counting process. It has said scrutineers need detailed voter information to make sure people don’t cast multiple ballots.
England told court that scrutineers don’t need detailed lists to do their jobs and, in some cases, aren’t eligible to receive the lists in the first place.
She also said Elections Alberta is responsible for consulting detailed voter lists during the count.
“Consulting such a list on a continual basis would distract the scrutineers from their actual job, which is to watch what’s happening in front of you and ensure it’s being done correctly,” England said.
She also disputed the argument that the new policy is a breach of power.
England said the provincial Election Act doesn’t limit what the government can change through issuing regulations for voter lists. “Nothing about a maximum or minimum of certain kinds of contents, just broad language saying the (government) may make regulations respecting their content.”
She argued the NDP’s challenge amounts to a policy disagreement, which isn’t a legal basis to strike down the policy.
Sandeep Dhir, a lawyer for the NDP, said a plain reading of the act shows that the new rules undermine the law.
“The list that Elections Alberta … is directed to provide by the government of Alberta may as well be called the list of bananas,” he said.
“It has nothing on the list that remotely looks like the voters list that is described in the definition of what a voters list is supposed to be.”
Dhir added that provincial law permits scrutineers appointed by political parties to cross-reference names on ballots to the official voter list, as long as it doesn’t impede elections workers.
Court of King’s Bench Justice John Gill said he understands the issue is urgent and promised to issue his decision as soon as possible, though he didn’t specify a date.
The referendum, 13 days away, includes 10 questions. Nine focus on immigration and the Constitution. The final question asks if voters want the province to stay in Canada or hold a second, binding referendum on separation.
The United Conservative Party government has said the voter list changes are meant to be temporary — they’re set to expire at the end of the year — and to keep Albertans’ private information more secure. It also said it’s considering legislation to ensure there’s more robust protections moving forward.
The new rules come after a major privacy breach this past spring involving a separatist group.
Elections officials have said the group, called the Centurion Project, published a database that was traced back to a copy of the voter list that was lawfully provided to the pro-independence Republican Party of Alberta.
The leak remains under investigation. Elections Alberta has said thousands of people may have viewed the list.
The Republican Party has denied any wrongdoing.
Last month, Justice Minister Mickey Amery pointed to calls from Alberta’s chief electoral officer for legal changes to voter list rules over the privacy breach, and how changes needed to be implemented “before the list of electors is shared again with political parties.”
Before the hearing Tuesday, NDP house leader Christina Gray said if the government was concerned about ensuring Albertans’ private information is protected, it would have acted sooner and in a way that punished those responsible for the breach.
Gray said the new rules amount to closing “the barn doors after the horses have already left.”
As part of its challenge, the NDP also wants the court to order Elections Alberta to provide the party with a new copy of the detailed voter list, arguing it requested one before the rules were changed but didn’t get it.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2026.
Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
