Global News Edmonton has reported:

Elections Alberta has barred third-party advertisers from appointing scrutineers for Alberta’s referendum on Monday, Oct. 19, saying voting locations and ballot-count areas do not have enough room for additional people. The agency will accept scrutineers designated by parties with official status, currently the United Conservative Party and the NDP, which both support keeping Alberta in Canada. Experts said the restriction raises legitimate questions about how to balance the interests of groups on both sides, but does not show an organized effort to exclude separatists.

The dispute grew after social media posts questioned who could observe the referendum process. On Oct. 10, Rebel News publisher Ezra Levant, a prominent supporter of Alberta’s separatist movement, shared a post by a Western Standard columnist. The columnist had written the day before: “Just got an email from Elections Alberta stating that no scrutineers will be accepted from any third party advertisers at all in the referendum.”

Levant accused the agency of favouring the campaign to keep Alberta in Canada. “Elections Alberta is corrupt to the point where the integrity of the referendum is in question,” he wrote. His post had received 23,500 views as of Oct. 14. Another separatist supporter cited the exclusion of third-party advertiser scrutineers as evidence that the referendum was “rigged,” while another commenter wrote, “This is not going to help faith in the referendum at all.”

An Elections Alberta spokesperson confirmed in an emailed statement that third-party advertisers would not be allowed to act as scrutineers. Only people designated by parties with official party status can take those roles. A party needs at least four elected members in the legislature to qualify for official status, a threshold currently met by the UCP and NDP.

The spokesperson said the chief electoral officer had already approved a list of scrutineers submitted by registered political parties and could not add people from third-party advertisers because of space constraints. “When we considered the size of the voting locations and the count areas, the number of workers needed in those spaces in addition to the space required for ballot boxes, there simply isn’t room for additional people in these locations,” the spokesperson said.

Elections Alberta’s website describes scrutineers as representatives of candidates who monitor ballot handling and observe election procedures, including the counting of ballots. Scrutineers must be registered voters, be appointed by a candidate, take an oath of secrecy and follow the agency’s code of conduct. They can watch voters arrive at voting locations and submit ballots, and can object to ballots they examine.

Alex Marland, a professor of Canadian politics at Acadia University in Nova Scotia who has worked as a scrutineer, said scrutineers do not interact with voters or handle ballots. Their role is to observe the process. Elections Alberta’s website says the chief electoral officer has discretion to appoint additional scrutineers, taking into account the size of voting locations and the balance between the Yes and No sides.

The referendum includes 10 questions covering immigration and Canada’s Constitution. Its central question asks whether Alberta should remain in Canada or begin the process of holding a binding referendum on separation. Elections Alberta defines third-party advertisers as people, corporations or groups that spend at least $1,000 on political advertisements. There are 28 registered third-party advertisers for the referendum, representing both sides of the central question.

Lori Williams, an associate professor of political science at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said the decision reflects the challenge of administering a provincewide referendum with high stakes. She said the electoral system is built to support political parties and their candidates during elections, and is less suited to a referendum involving 10 ballot questions and outside groups heavily invested in the campaign.

“What they’re finding is the combination with so many questions and the need for so many election workers, the polling stations are crowded,” Williams said. “And if you imagine adding all of those representatives from all of those (third party advertisers), it could get pretty problematic in a big hurry. “So part of the problem here is that we’ve got a process that’s unprecedented.”

Williams said the situation raises questions about how to balance the interests of parties and groups involved in the campaign, but she sees no evidence of an effort to exclude one side. She said the restriction exposes an electoral system designed around official political parties and candidates rather than issues. “It’s certainly not a deliberate conspiracy, but of course, it also raises questions about legitimacy if only one side, those that are on the federal side, are allowed to act as scrutineers,” she said.