Leaked voter list a ‘wake-up call’ for provinces

The public release of a voter list in Alberta last month is a “wake-up call” for officials in Manitoba and other jurisdictions, a former head of elections in Alberta said.

An Alberta judge ordered that a separatist group remove an online list of nearly three million people in the province last month. The list included names and addresses of registered voters.

All provinces and territories should “take a very hard look” at security provisions currently in place for their election organizations, former Alberta chief electoral officer Lorne Gibson said.

“This is a nightmare scenario for an election office who have been entrusted to protect that information, keep it secure and private,” Gibson told the Sun on Wednesday.

Registered parties and candidates in Alberta, Manitoba and other provinces are given the voter list, or a portion of the list for the ridings they are running in, in order to campaign effectively. They can also use it to scrutinize the database and determine if they believe a listed voter is ineligible or has died.

The Alberta list that went public was given legally to the separatist Republican Party of Alberta before another separatist group, the Centurion Project, illegally published the list online.

The list was traced back to the Republican Party of Alberta because all lists given out included unique fake names.

An Elections Manitoba official said it takes “regular steps” to maintain the safety and security of the information contained on the list of every eligible voter across the province.

“Protecting voters’ personal information is really a high priority for Elections Manitoba,” said director of communications and public information Mike Ambrose.

The list contains people’s names, birth date, physical and mailing addresses and a unique identifier number assigned by Elections Manitoba. It can also include a voter’s phone number, email address, driver’s licence number and gender, though voters aren’t required to provide that information, Ambrose said.

Ambrose said Manitobans can be confident that their information is handled carefully and only used for approved purposes, which is restricted by legislation.

Parties and candidates who have access to the list are required to use it only for communicating, he said, which includes going door to door, sending mail or making phone calls.

“Any recipient of the voters list is required by law to protect the information on the list from unauthorized use,” Ambrose said.

Misuse of the list is an offence under election law, Ambrose said.

If an individual violates the rules, they could face a fine of up to $10,000 and a year in jail. If an organization or more than one person is found at fault, they could face a fine of up to $50,000.

Gibson said the penalty for a single person is “pretty stiff.”

“But on the other hand, that list is quite valuable. A $10,000 penalty very well may not deter someone when some estimates are that the names on those lists could be worth more than $1 per name,” said Gibson, who now lives in Winnipeg and works as an election management consultant.

Gibson was the chief electoral officer in Alberta from 2006-09 and also served as the election commissioner in that province from 2018-19.

“In terms of costs and benefits, someone may very well decide that selling the list for a considerable sum might be worth a $10,000 penalty,” he said, highlighting that Alberta’s list contained almost three million names.

“I think all jurisdictions should take a very hard look at the security provisions that they have within their legislation,” Gibson said. “And also, I think that legislatures should take a look at the penalty provisions, to hopefully deter anyone who might consider misusing the list.”

The bar isn’t set very high to become a candidate in an election, especially if someone runs independently, Gibson said. But allowing the list to only go to certain parties or candidates would not be fair, he added, as they wouldn’t be on an even playing field.

Gibson said the list is helpful for candidates so they know who they’re talking to. Parties often collect information about voters when going door to door or over the phone, including if they’re likely to vote for them or who they might support.

Elections Manitoba also has the power to create fictitious information on voter lists in order to trace a violation, though Ambrose declined to say how it might do so as it could reduce its effectiveness.

Ambrose said Elections Manitoba has never seen widespread publication of the voter list. As of the most recent commissioner of elections report in 2020, there was one instance of unauthorized use of a list that was investigated. The party in question, which isn’t named in the report, was reminded of the guidelines.

The Sun asked both the provincial New Democratic and Progressive Conservative parties for interviews with local MLAs about how they and their staff make sure they follow rules in place and how they use the voter list to campaign.

No MLAs were made available, but the PCs did send a statement from the party’s president.

Peter Smith said campaign managers must sign a document agreeing to use the list for elections purposes only and to destroy the list at the end of the election.

“The PC Party ensures compliance by employing a canvassing system that restricts access to the list to approved users for a fixed period of time, and by vetting our candidates, and training them and their campaign teams,” Smith said.

Ambrose said the voter list can also be sent out to sitting MLAs if requested and to municipalities to create their own lists for local elections.

The list also provides useful information for Elections Manitoba on where to set up voting places.

» alambert@brandonsun.com, with files from The Canadian Press