Elections Alberta Investigating Provincial Elector List Published by Separatist Activists ⇥ theglobeandmail.com

Carrie Tait and Chen Wang, the Globe and Mail:

Alberta’s separatist campaign has access to personal information belonging to 2.9 million residents, data that closely resembles the province’s most recent list of electors, raising questions about a potential breach of privacy and violation of election laws.

The already sanctioned organization behind this claims all this data is from public sources, but Elections Alberta is convinced it is a genuine elector list used illegally.

Wallis Snowdon, CBC News:

Court heard that an Elections Alberta investigation examined the public, searchable database and determined the list was legitimately provided to the Republican Party of Alberta, a provincial party founded in 2022 that supports Alberta independence.

[…]

Court heard that each electoral list legitimately released by Elections Alberta includes a certain number of fictitious — or “salted” — names. These unique entries on each electoral list allow investigators to trace each dataset back to their source in the event of a breach.

I was able to easily register and view my own record, which had information I have not seen before in data I have requested from brokers and other semi-public sources. The canvassing tool was pulled offline as I was reviewing its architecture.

It is notable that these pro-separatist goobers have to resort to setting up front organizations with scant public information about their leadership and funding, and allegedly obtaining lists of registered electors. These people are very loud on the internet and at rallies, but they use sketchy and underhanded organizing tactics.