I’m writing to set the record straight over Rocky View County Council’s majority decisions on preparing voting lists. Rocky View County does not rely on the “honour system” for casting ballots in municipal elections. The county follows the exact same rules as every other municipality in Alberta, as laid out in the Local Authorities Elections Act. This includes requiring voters to show identification and sign a legal voter registration form. Anyone voting when they are not entitled can be fined or imprisoned. The process is overseen by officials, and by scrutineers on behalf of individual candidates. While some people are advocating for a county voters’ list, it is highly questionable what such a list would actually accomplish. Putting someone’s name on a list has little bearing on whether or not they are legally entitled to vote. There is a time lag between creating the list and the election. People move, die, reach voting age, get married, etc., all of which impacts the accuracy of a voters’ list. More importantly, voters’ lists can be used to deny people their right to vote, or discourage them from voting, as we see in some other countries. That’s why in Canada we take the approach that anyone who can prove their identity and is legally entitled to vote has the right to vote, whether their name is on a list or not. All of this helps explain why no municipality in Alberta currently uses a voters’ list to confirm eligibility to vote. The only generally-agreed benefit of a voters’ list is to speed up and ease voting in very crowded polling stations or large urban centres, none of which applies to Rocky View County. That’s why county council decided to take a different route. Even with a long history of clean elections, council recently voted to strengthen voter identification requirements, train political scrutineers, better educate residents on boundary lines, and limit the number of voting stations to further improve the electoral process. We also voted to lobby the province to more freely share its voter information. If we are successful, we can dramatically reduce the cost of preparing a municipal voters list, which better justifies their limited benefit. Rocky View County Council supports a responsible, thoughtful approach to electoral change. We’re making sure our efforts will be effective, and making sure we don’t unintentionally deny people their legal right to vote. I think council’s approach is one everyone in Rocky View County can have confidence in and be proud of. Greg Boehlke, Reeve, Rocky View County
