The United Conservative Party faces another hurdle in the tumultuous preparations for announcing the May 18 vote to review the leadership.
A letter received from CBC News shows that Elections Alberta is investigating allegations of mass purchases of UCP membership.
In the letter, the investigator wrote that “depending on how these purchases were financed, there may have been a violation of the Electoral Disclosure and Contribution Act (EFCDA) and the related Alberta election guidelines.”
In a statement to the CBC on Saturday, a UCP spokesman said “we have not contacted Elections Alberta and are not aware of the investigation.”
The statement added that membership purchases are accepted in three ways: by someone paying with an ID card for themselves or their family, by check or in cash, if the person signs an application for membership confirming their identity.
This March photo shows Brian Jean after his election victory. An aide to Jean confirmed to CBC News that the campaign had filed a complaint in late March before the Alberta Election alleging fears that UCP membership had been purchased in bulk. (Jamie Malboff / CBC)
Brian Jean, a member of the UCP group and a political enemy of Jason Kenny, voiced fears that some of the approximately 59,000 voters in the leadership vote may have registered for membership without their knowledge and with a $ 10 registration fee paid by someone. another.
Vitor Marciano, Jean’s aide, confirmed to CBC News that Jean’s campaign had filed a complaint in late March before the Alberta Election alleging fears that UCP membership had been bought in bulk before Bill 81 came into force. Marciano said they cited Kenny’s campaign as part of their complaint.
Marciano believes others have also filed complaints before the Alberta election.
“I believe we were not the only ones, but I don’t know for sure,” he said.
It is not known whether the complaint about Jean’s campaign prompted the Elections Alberta investigation.
Election Alberta did not respond to CBC requests for comment.
The point in dispute
The main obstacle in all this is the Law on Amendments to the Electoral Statute or Bill 81, which was adopted in December.
The controversial bill allows someone to buy membership in the names of other people without notifying those people.
However, Bill 81 did not enter into force until March 31.
The memberships in question, which were purchased so that voters could vote in the leadership review, had to be purchased by the March 19th deadline.
Marciano claims there are about 4,000 new memberships that have been processed by six credit cards.
“I don’t know whose credit cards they are. I just know that someone bought a membership for someone, “he said.
In a statement in early April, Jean said he had seen evidence from the UCP board and was confident that about 92 percent of the signatures were legitimate enough to continue with the leadership review.
Marciano said they chose not to file an internal party arbitration appeal because they feared that it “actually risks delaying the vote and risks creating the possibility of selling a more dubious membership.”
A delay could withdraw the vote after March 31, when group purchases will be allowed.
They raised suspicions
Dwayne Brother, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, said an investigation into the Alberta election would only deepen a lack of confidence in the outcome of the vote.
“If Kenny exceeds 50 percent, no matter what that number is, there will now be a renewed suspicion that he cheated to win,” Brother said.
“In principle, this refers to a lack of trust, a lack of trust in the process, a lack of trust between the party’s executive branch and many party members. And it could extend to a lack of confidence in the outcome. “
This drop in confidence is due to the RCMP’s ongoing investigation into voter irregularities, which dates back to the 2017 leadership race, he added.
“There’s a reason people are suspicious of the revision vote and suspicious of the revision vote because of what happened in 2017. They are suspicious of the vote because of Bill 81,” Brother said.
“This is not some kind of internal party quarrel that has no effect on non-party members or non-Alberts. This is the Alberta government.”
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