Alberta Plans Legislation Targeting ‘Longest Ballot’ Campaigns

The Alberta government is planning to introduce legislation to prevent “long-ballot” protests in Alberta elections by increasing the number of signatures candidates need to be nominated.

Government House Leader Joseph Schow announced the upcoming legislation, called the Justice Statutes Amendment Act, at an Oct. 20 press conference. He said the bill will ensure “only those who truly care and are serious about representing a community or riding” are allowed on ballots.

Schow declined to provide further details about the legislation, deferring questions to Justice Minister Mickey Amery, who is expected to table the legislation this fall. Schow said the legislation will ensure ballots are clear and candidates are “genuinely serious” about running for office.

Amery’s press secretary, Heather Jenkins, told The Epoch Times in an Oct. 21 email that the legislation will prevent “long-ballot” protests by increasing the number of signatures required for nomination and prohibiting electors from signing more than one nomination paper or inducing others to sign more than one nomination paper.

“Concerns were raised across the country in the last federal election, including by experts such as former chief electoral officer Jean-Pierre Kinsley, who reiterated a longstanding call for governments to change the laws,” Jenkins said. “Alberta’s government will be taking action to protect the integrity of our elections through legislative changes to address this.”

Schow said “certain interest groups” have organized long-ballot campaigns “to confuse” voters and the legislation will bring “clarity and transparency” to the election process.

The act is one of at least 15 pieces of legislation the government intends to introduce this fall after the legislature returns on Oct. 23, he said.

Longest Ballot Committee

Federal Liberals and Conservatives, as well as Elections Canada, have also raised concern about protest groups flooding election ballots.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre asked the federal government in a July letter to introduce changes to Canada’s election rules to make it harder for protest groups to stack ridings with inauthentic candidates.

He said the Longest Ballot Committee (LBC) protest movement was confusing voters and undermining democracy after it signed up hundreds of candidates to run against him in the Battle River-Crowfoot byelection in August.

Elections Canada announced in July that, due to the large number of candidates, voters would need to write the name of the preferred candidate on a blank ballot, instead of the usual method of marking an X beside the preferred candidate’s name on the ballot. As an “exceptional measure,” Elections Canada shared an example of an adapted ballot in advance.

Poilievre suggested the federal government require candidates to get signatures from a minimum of 0.5 percent of riding voters to file a candidacy, instead of the current 100 people. He also recommended that nomination supporters only be allowed to endorse one candidate, and that candidates’ official agents be restricted to representing only a single candidate at a time.

The Carney government responded to Poilievre’s letter, with Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon’s office saying he shares some of the Conservatives’ concerns and was studying the matter.

LBC agent Tomas Szuchewycz testified before a House of Commons committee on Oct. 7, and admitted to collecting signatures from electors without specifying who the candidate was. Tory MP Michael Cooper said Szuchewycz had indicated online that nomination signatures were already collected and interested candidates only had to sign up.

At the committee meeting, Bloc Québécois MP Christine Normandin and Liberal MP Élisabeth Brière asked Szuchewycz whether he thought the LBC was achieving its objectives of electoral change. Szuchewycz replied that his testifying before the committee was evidence of the campaign’s success, adding the LBC had received “lots” of media attention.

Federal Election

The long-ballot movement started in the 2021 election to protest Canada’s first-past-the-post system, in which the party that gets the most votes wins the riding, without requiring a majority of votes cast. The LBC targeted Poilievre’s Carleton riding in the federal election in April.

Although Poilievre had represented the Carleton riding since 2004, he lost the seat to Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy, who garnered 50.6 percent of the vote compared to the Tory leader’s 46.1 percent.

Eighty-five of the 91 candidates listed on the ballot were linked to the LBC, resulting in a significantly prolonged counting process compared to earlier elections.

Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault raised concerns about the protest movement during an appearance before a House of Commons committee last November.

He urged committee members to consider accessibility issues caused by the protest, noting a ballot with additional candidates required a smaller font size on on the ballot, making it harder for individuals with literacy barriers or disabilities.

Noé Chartier, Paul Rowan Brian, and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.