Nenshi says failure to send voter cards due to postal strike could affect midterm election – Winnipeg Free Press

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – Alberta Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi says the decision not to mail voter registration cards because of the Canada Post strike could hurt turnout in the provincial midterm elections scheduled for a week before Christmas.

Nenshi, who leads the province’s NDP, says in a letter to Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure that the cards are “one of the few remaining supports provided by Alberta Elections to promote access to democracy.”

Premier Danielle Smith announced last week that a by-election for Lethbridge-West will be held on Dec. 18 to fill the vacancy created by the July 1 resignation of former NDP MLA Shannon Phillips.

Nenshi had repeatedly called on Smith to call a byelection, given that both NDP and ruling United Conservative Party candidates have been in office since September.

The Alberta Elections website notes that “Where to Vote” cards will not be mailed to voters due to the Canada Post strike, and warns that if the strike continues, voters who choose to vote by special ballot may have to use other cards. ways to send them, such as courier.

Nenshi says the Alberta NDP wants Alberta Elections to have “strong voter support,” which he says could include cycling-related billboards and road signs, radio ads and a phone and text campaign.

“Voter turnout tends to be lower in midterm elections. The Prime Minister’s cynical decision to hold a winter election so close to Christmas and Hanukkah risks a lower-than-normal turnout,” Nenshi said in the letter posted on social media late Monday.

“It is Alberta Elections’ duty to ensure that turnout is not low because voters do not know when and where to vote.”

Nenshi said Elections Alberta’s plan to run social media posts and ads through the Lethbridge Herald is “constructive but woefully inadequate.” He noted that older people are less likely to access information through social media.

The outcome of the by-election will not affect the government because the United Conservative Party currently has 49 seats in the 87-seat parliament, while the NDP has 37 seats.

While the NDP’s candidate will be Rob Miyashiro, the United Conservative Party’s flag bearer will be John Middleton-Hope.