CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — P.E.I.’s political parties won’t be able to get lists of who voted in this election after the province’s privacy commissioner ruled it wasn’t allowed under provincial legislation.
Provincial privacy commissioner Karen Rose recently issued a ruling after investigating Elections P.E.I.’s practice of giving candidates or their delegates regularly updated information about whether people had voted.
Rose ordered Elections P.E.I. to stop the practice, saying it contravened the Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection (FOIPP) Act.
In 2015, Elections P.E.I. disclosed a list of electors to candidates through a secure electronic portal that was updated regularly and included information about who had voted.
Rose said she started her investigation after receiving a question from a journalist about the practice.
Elections P.E.I. is required by law to disclose a voter list to the political parties, and prior to 2015, the electoral body’s practice was to inform scrutineers at polling stations when an elector was voting.
The purpose of that practice was to give scrutineers oversight of the election process and determine if they needed to challenge a voter’s eligibility.
Disclosure not necessary
Since 2015, candidates have been getting the list of voters and who voted with that information updated every 15 minutes during the advance polling period and on polling day.
In her decision, Rose said the purpose of scrutineers at polling stations is to strengthen the public trust in elections and the legitimacy of democratic governance.
Rose said she didn’t accept that disclosure of voter information to someone other than a candidate’s scrutineer was necessary for Elections P.E.I. to carry out its duty of ensuring a fair election.
The decision also noted that once the personal information is disclosed there is no independent oversight and Elections P.E.I. can’t limit party or campaign teams’ use of it.
Rose found disclosure of the personal information would “constitute an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy for voters.”
Elections P.E.I. chief electoral officer Tim Garrity said his organization will stop providing political parties with information on who voted.
“Elections P.E.I. respects the decision of the privacy commissioner,” he said.
Garrity said Elections P.E.I. got the decision a few days before the election call and has since met with representatives from the political parties to inform them they won’t be getting the information.
“The timing was a challenge,” he said.