Elections Alberta says safeguards check voters’ citizenship in referendum

Elections Alberta says it uses voter records, declarations and other safeguards to deter ineligible voting in Alberta’s Oct. 19 referendum. A social media post questioned whether non-citizens could falsely declare citizenship, while the province says it has issued seven reprimand letters for voter fraud since 2015.

CTV News Edmonton has reported:

Elections Alberta says several safeguards are in place to deter people who are not Canadian citizens from voting in Alberta’s Oct. 19 referendum. The measures include checking voter information against provincial records, requiring some applicants to sign a citizenship declaration and referring potential breaches to the province’s election commissioner.

The response follows an Oct. 6 post on X that had received about 19,000 views as of Oct. 15. The user claimed Alberta residents who are not Canadian citizens could use accepted identification showing their name and address, falsely declare their citizenship at a polling station and cast a ballot.

“Officials do not require a passport, birth certificate, citizenship card, or other proof of citizenship at the polling station,” the user said. “Yes, it’s illegal for a non-citizen to vote. But, it’s possible.”

The post questioned how Elections Alberta verifies citizenship and suggested it accepts declarations at “face value” before entering applicants in the provincial voter registry. It also raised the possibility that “a significant number” of ineligible voters could affect an election’s outcome.

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

To be eligible to vote, a person must be a Canadian citizen, live in Alberta and be at least 18 years old. An Elections Alberta spokesperson said by email that people who arrive at a polling station without first registering must show accepted identification, such as a driver’s licence, and sign a declaration confirming they are Canadian citizens.

The spokesperson said the declaration is a legal document, not an “honour system,” and that lying on it is an offence under Alberta’s Election Act. Elections Alberta’s website says people found trying to vote illegally could face fines of up to $50,000 and jail terms of up to two years.

The office also records applicants’ information to guard against people voting more than once. The spokesperson said potential breaches are referred to the provincial election commissioner, and scrutineers are present to monitor voting.

Lori Williams, an associate professor of political science at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said the provincial voter registry tends to include citizenship status drawn from information in the federal database. “The voters list emerges from things like our tax returns, and of course, Canada Revenue Agency knows that we’re citizens, so some verification can be done within the Elections Alberta system,” she said.

According to a Government of Canada website, Canadians can consent to the Canada Revenue Agency sharing personal information from their tax returns with Elections Canada to update their records in the National Register of Electors. Tax return forms ask whether a person is a Canadian citizen and whether they consent to sharing their personal information, including citizenship status, for that purpose.

Provincial and territorial election offices can draw on residents’ personal information in the national register to update their own voter registries. The Elections Alberta spokesperson said there is no evidence that ineligible voting is becoming a larger problem.

Since 2015, Elections Alberta has issued seven letters of reprimand for voter fraud: four to people found ineligible to vote and three to people found to have voted more than once. Williams said a non-citizen could theoretically attempt to vote, but she described the province’s system and laws as effective deterrents.

“If you do test it and disclose it that you’ve tested it, you’re liable to fine and/or imprisonment,” Williams said. “This is a significant deterrent to anybody tempted to test whether the system works.”

One of the 10 referendum questions asks whether Alberta should require voters in provincial elections “to provide proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate or citizenship card, to vote in an Alberta provincial election.” The Canadian Press report was first published Oct. 16, 2026, and was written by Timon Johnson.