Alberta NDP takes voter-list restrictions to court before referendum

Alberta’s Opposition NDP has launched a court challenge against provincial rules that sharply restrict the voter information Elections Alberta may provide to political parties. Under the temporary regulation, parties receive only the number of registered electors in each voting area and municipality instead of names, addresses, telephone numbers and unique voter identifiers.

The government introduced the restriction following a major privacy breach involving information concerning nearly three million Albertans. The exposed data originated from a voter list lawfully provided to the Republican Party of Alberta and was later traced to a database published by the Centurion Project. Justice Minister Mickey Amery has said the temporary regulation will expire at the end of 2026 and be replaced by permanent legislation intended to protect both privacy and election integrity.

The NDP argues the cabinet exceeded its regulatory authority and undermined the statutory purpose of providing parties with voter lists. Elections Alberta will continue using the detailed information internally, but the Opposition says party scrutineers require comparable data to identify possible duplicate voting during the referendum. No date has been scheduled for the court hearing.