Leaders of pro-separation groups were complaining on social media yesterday about a decision communicated to them by Elections Alberta just after 5:30 p.m. advising them that third-party advertisers will not be allowed to have scrutineers in polling places or ballot-counting locations on during the Oct. 19 referendum.
Former People’s Party of Canada candidate and pro-separation video commentator Jason Lavigne published a copy of the letter he received from Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure stating that effective immediately “scrutineer access during the referendum will be limited to representatives of political parties holding political party status.”
Presumably all 28 registered third-party referendum advertisers, of which more than half appear to favour separation, got the letter.
“In determining the appropriate application of section 6.2(4) of the Referendum (General) Regulation, I have considered the physical and operational constraints of voting places and counting places, including the limited space available to accommodate election officials, voters, authorized representatives observers and other personnel,” Mr. McClure wrote.
Section 6.2(4) says in part that referendum advisers “may submit, in writing, a list of names to the Chief Electoral Officer from which the Chief Electoral Officer or a returning officer may appoint scrutineers under subsection (3).”
On its website, Elections Alberta continues to explain that policy as follows: “Registered referendum third party advertisers representing the Yes or No side of referendums question(s) may also appoint scrutineers by submitting a list of scrutineer names to the Chief Electoral Officer. … Elections Alberta will determine a process for receiving scrutineer requests from third parties and determine placement. These placements will be determined based on the factors above and others, including size of voting location and balance of each side of the referendum positions.”
This obviously assumes that all referendum questions would be phrased like a proper referendum question, that is, with a yes or no answer. Question 10, the intentionally unclear separation question and therefore the one that counts the most, is phrased as a choice between Option 1 (remain in Canada) or Option 2 (keep trying to separate), which may be ridiculous, but, hey, This Is Alberta (TIA!).
Adding in scrutineers from all or some of the 28 registered third-party advertisers, Mr. McClure’s letter continued, considerably understating the matter, “would create significant logistical concerns.”
He explained: “Permitting additional scrutineers would increase the number of individuals requiring access to already constrained spaces and could interfere with the orderly movement of voters, the performance of election officials, the maintenance of ballot security, and the efficient conduct of the count.”
“Having considered these operational requirements, I have determined that limiting scrutineer authorization to representatives of parties holding official party status is necessary to ensure that voting and counting places can operate effectively within their physical and logistical constraints, the chief electoral officer said.
In light of the division created in Alberta society by the insistence of Premier Danielle Smith and her United Conservative Party on pushing forward with this separation referendum, which has been the cause of much mischief by Canada’s adversaries abroad and extremists at home, not to mention the tight time frame for a hand count of ballots demanded by the government, the possibility of disruption and conflict are in fact quite real.
But surely what most Albertans would agree is an eminently reasonable decision should have been announced earlier than at the close of business on the Friday before a long weekend after which advance polls open on Tuesday morning?
Well, perhaps Mr. McClure worried about the impact of a flurry of litigants seeking injunctions if he gave them too much time.
Alberta separatists have already telegraphed their intention to promote conspiracy theories if the vote does not go their way, so we can count on it that they will view the timing as evidence of malign intent by the government. This is especially true now that Premier Smith appears to have abandoned their cause after months of enabling it, and announced that if a majority of Albertans vote to remain in Alberta there will be no second referendum “as long as I’m premier.”
Separatists who now dominate her party, unsurprisingly, have vowed that if she keeps that promise, her remaining tenure as party leader and premier may be shorter than she had planned.