Volunteers check voter IDS ahead of ballot count in UCP leadership review

Volunteers began checking voter identification Thursday in a mailin leadership review of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and, if so inclined, the public could watch a livestream of the work on the United Conservative Party website.

“Volunteers are verifying that each ballot package received meets the requirements. If it is, then the sealed ballot secrecy envelope is placed in the ballot box for (future) counting,” party spokesman Dave Prisco said in a statement.

“This entire process is being overseen by the returning officer, scrutineers and (third-party audit firm) Deloitte Canada.”

Prisco said ballots are to be counted and the results announced via livestream next Wednesday.

Ballots were sent out a month ago to almost 60,000 eligible party members. The question is simple: “Do you approve of the current leader? Yes or No?”

The vote has been under a cloud. Correspondence obtained by The Canadian Press indicates Elections Alberta is investigating allegations of possible illegal bulk buying of party memberships.

Elections Alberta, as per legislation, cannot confirm whether an investigation is ongoing. The party has said it has not been informed of any such review.

It has been a winding path to get to this point. The review was delayed by a year and then pushed up to an in-person vote in Red Deer on April 9 after fierce demands from almost two dozen constituency associations.

The expected 3,000 or so voters ballooned to 15,000. The party executive, citing the difficulty of logistics, announced the vote would be expanded to all 59,000plus members and balloting done by mail.

Kenney's opponents say the change was made because the large in-person voter rolls indicated Kenney was going to lose.

The board has denied that. Kenney won the party's inaugural leadership in 2017 in a race marred by allegations of collusion and voting irregularities. A multiyear RCMP investigation into allegations of criminal voter identity fraud continues.

The fallout from that review, coupled with suspicion over last-minute changes to this vote, has led to concerns over whether it will be conducted fairly.

UCP president Cynthia Moore has said she is confident everything will be handled above board.