Alberta’s Smith brushes off NDP voter list court battle, says legislation coming

Premier Danielle Smith dismissed the Opposition NDP's court battle over changes to Elections Alberta's voter list rules, stating that legislation will be introduced in the fall to provide necessary safeguards. The new restrictions on voter list sharing were implemented after a significant data breach involving a separatist group and the pro-Independence Republican Party of Alberta.

The rules now limit access to only the number of voters in each voting area and municipality, preventing the release of detailed private information such as full names, addresses, phone numbers, and unique voter identification numbers. Smith assured reporters that the rules, which are set to expire at the end of the year, apply equally to all political parties, including the NDP and the Republican Party.

The NDP's house leader, Christina Gray, criticized the government for not acting sooner and alleged that the new policy puts the integrity of the upcoming Oct. 19 referendum at risk. NDP is challenging the new voter list rules in court, arguing that the government acted beyond its power by changing the rules through regulation rather than legislation.

However, government lawyers rejected this argument, stating that the province was within its rights to change the rules and that the NDP's concerns about the new rules limiting party scrutineers' ability to observe the ballot count are unfounded. Smith hopes the NDP will support government legislation to introduce new safeguards on voter information in the fall.