Question 5: Voter ID: A solution in search of a problem
Question 5
Do you support the Government of Alberta introducing a law requiring individuals to provide proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate, or citizenship card, to vote in an Alberta provincial election?
There is no evidence of voter fraud in Alberta or lack of trust in our voting system.
Steps like this are borrowed from the US and don’t have a place in Alberta’s democratic system.
We should be encouraging more people to vote, not putting unnecessary roadblocks in the way.
How would voting change if this was implemented?
If this proceeds, when you go to vote in an Alberta provincial election, in addition to your driver’s licence (which in future will include your citizenship status) or other forms of accepted ID, you would have to show proof of citizenship. For most of us, that would mean showing a passport or Canadian birth certificate. (New Canadians could present a Canadian citizenship certificate.)
What percentage of Albertans currently hold a passport? Unless people travel internationally, why would they have a passport? How many people have a copy of their birth certificate handy? How many women would have their right to vote questioned if the name on their birth certificate doesn’t match the name on their driver’s license because they took their husband’s name when they married? (This has become a controversial issue in the US where proof of citizenship has been proposed as a voting requirement.)
In effect, this adds another unnecessary hurdle to voting at a time when it’s more important than ever for people to get out to vote.
What problem is this intended to solve?
Bill 20, the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, introduced by the UCP government in 2024 strengthened the requirement for people to present physical identification at a polling station and eliminated the practice of vouching – where a verified person living in their polling district could attest to another person’s identity to allow them to vote. Minister Ric McIver was quoted as saying that Bill 20 was about “strengthening the rules so that Albertans can continue to have trust in local elections.” The same reasoning, we assume, applies to this question.
On the government’s referendum website, they state that this proposal is intended to “help make sure that only Albertans who are Canadian citizens are represented in the outcomes of elections.” Critics suggest this measure is targeted specifically at immigrants.
But the fact is, there isn’t any evidence of voter fraud or hordes of ineligible voters showing up to vote that would justify the need for these additional measures. Between 2013 and the last provincial election in 2023, Elections Alberta had recorded only seven cases of voting irregularities. And there is no evidence that Albertans have lost trust in local elections.
Why take this step and what impact would it have?
University of Alberta professor Dr. Jared Wesley in his article “ID? Please.” states that in practice, voter ID laws:
Borrow directly from the Trump playbook
Prevent more eligible voters than fraudsters from participating
Disproportionately affect the most marginalized groups in our politics
Reduce the number of options for voters to prove their identity
Rely on an inflated sense of how many people have the necessary ID
Overestimate the electoral advantage it confers on right-wing citizens
Setting aside the political arguments, it’s hard to not conclude that this is a solution in search of a problem.
Our view
Voter turnout for elections in Alberta is relatively low. It dropped from 67.5% of eligible voters in 2019 to 59.5% in 2023. Those who believe in the importance of our democratic right to have our say through elections should not support putting more unnecessary roadblocks in the way of people turning up to vote. Current ID requirements are sufficient.
We are voting NO on Question 5.