Elections Alberta servers crash on first day of use

Real time app to check on voters slows to standstill, enumerators told to stay home

EDMONTON Elections Alberta servers crashed over the weekend as enumerators faced their first day of knocking on doors to register voters for the 2019 provincial election.

The crash was thanks to a kink in a new system employed by the independent body.

It allows workers to see information in real time so they know if someone has already registered online or via phone. However, the app they use to access that info slowed to a virtual standstill as they stopped at 100,000 homes.

“Even though we did a lot of testing in advance, our servers just couldn’t handle the volume,” Elections Alberta spokesperson Pamela Renwick said Monday.

Enumerators were told to stay home until the problem is resolved, with just a skeleton crew out on doorsteps for the next few days.

“We’re trying to manage the volume right now of how many people are out … while we continue to make more server upgrades,” Renwick said.

The good news is people who arrived home to find Elections Alberta “We missed you” sticky notes on their front door can still register to vote online or through the call centre, which continue to operate at full volume.

Even though we did a lot of testing in advance, our servers just couldn’t handle the volume.

Elections Alberta has expanded its server capacity and Renwick expects the problems to be repaired by Thursday.

Renwick said at that point the body will look at potential consequences for the company that built the app.