Fact File: Safeguards prevent bulk referendum ballot applications, officials say

EDMONTON — A prominent Alberta separatist has shared an online claim that the provincial NDP used its access to the province’s voter list to request hundreds of thousands mail-in ballots for this month’s referendum. The claim includes an edited video of NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi talking about the party’s access to the list. However, a former chief elections officer says the law prevents political parties from applying for ballots on behalf of electors, and Elections Alberta says measures are in place to prevent the scenario presented in the claim.

THE CLAIM

On Oct. 4, an online user claimed on the X platform that the NDP had used the provincial voter list to register for hundreds of thousands of mail-in referendum ballots.

The post included an edited video, taken from a May interview in which Nenshi talks about NDP preparations for the Oct. 19 referendum. Nenshi mentions political parties’ exclusive access to voter data in the interview.

“This is Naheed Nenshi bragging about having ‘access to data that others don’t.’ He’s referring, of course, to the voter list,” the user wrote.

The post has received more than 38,000 views and been shared hundreds of times, including by Jeffrey Rath, one of the leading figures of the separatist movement in Alberta. In his repost, Rath called for ballots to be invalidated if there is evidence of wrongdoing.

“I’m pretty sure the Act says ELECTORS may request a ballot. That doesn’t mean that a political party may request them,” he said wrote, adding that the party’s alleged actions could violate the law.

THE FACTS

The video used in the claim came from a CTV News interview with Nenshi about the controversy involving the unauthorized access of voters’ private information within the separatist movement.

During the May 10 interview, he talked about how the Alberta NDP launched a program aimed at encouraging voter turnout and touched on the party’s access to voter data.

“We’ve signed up thousands and thousands of Albertans to our program, which is called For Alberta, For Canada. Ironically, before this data breach, the reason we’re doing that is because political parties have access to data that others don’t, and we’re able to run the ground war really well,” he said.

The interview did not discuss the province’s registration system for mail-in ballots, also known as special ballots.

Alberta’s Election Act prohibits people from applying for a special ballot on someone else’s behalf, unless the voter needs assistance because of a disability or illness and provides consent.

In an emailed statement, Elections Alberta spokesperson Maia Hanrahan said the online claim is an example of misinformation spread about the province’s election systems.

“The special ballot process is robust and has many checks and balances to easily prevent the scenario the post claims is possible,” she added. The checks include a notification that would alert a voter if a special ballot has been approved that they did not request. And when they submit a special ballot, voters have to provide a signed declaration and a copy of accepted identification.

Albertans will vote Oct. 19 in a referendum that asks a total of 10 questions covering immigration and Canada’s Constitution. The central question is whether the province should remain in Canada or begin the process to hold a binding referendum on separation.

Lorne Gibson, a former chief electoral officer for Alberta from 2006 to 2009, rejected the idea that political parties or third-party organizations could submit bulk ballot applications.

“It would not be possible for the NDP, or any other party to apply for mail-in ballots in a bulk way like this. It’s just not permitted,” said Gibson, who was also the province’s first elections commissioner from May 2018 to November 2019.

He said one comparable situation he encountered as chief electoral officer was when the province was preparing for the 2008 general election. He and his staff noticed various political party operatives gathering dozens of applications for absentee ballots, submitting them at the returning office and picking up the ballot kits.

He said that practice led him to push for a change to the Elections Act, which now requires voters to provide proof of identification before they can vote by special ballot.

Gibson said that in the past political parties used voters lists to identify supporters, encourage them to vote and to check if they did vote. However, recent changes to the lists’ content limit that ability.

On Sept. 18, the provincial government announced a temporary policy, set to expire at the end of 2026, that means the list will only show the number of voters in each voting area and municipality. Personal information such as names, addresses and phone numbers that was previously on the voter list is not disclosed.

The new rules came after a separatist group gained unauthorized access to voters’ private information. 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.

The Alberta NDP last month filed a court challenge against the policy change, saying it threatens the integrity of the referendum and the ability of scrutineers to analyze the vote-counting process.

Gibson noted provincial parties can still use information from past voter lists in the current campaign.

Rath said in an interview that he reposted the claim because he felt it had merit and should be investigated. He added that people have been raising concerns about whether the NDP was using the voter list to request mail-in ballots. “I would say it’s a fact there needs to be a thorough investigation of these allegations,” he said.

An Alberta NDP spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the party has worked within all election rules throughout its referendum campaign.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2026.

Timon Johnson, The Canadian Press