Elections Alberta walked again its message after it mistakenly tweeted that Albertans should be registered to vote within the Could 29 provincial election.
“You should be a registered voter to solid your poll and might save time voting by pre-registering on-line,” Elections Alberta mentioned in a tweet Thursday.
That is not true, College of Alberta political science professor Jared Wesley advised QR Calgary’s Rob Breakenridge on Thursday.
“You’ll be able to present up on election day with ID, or you may have somebody vouch on your ID, or you may signal a kind confirming that you just dwell the place you say you reside and you’ll be placed on the electoral roll.” mentioned Wesley.
“Based on the legislation, so long as you might be on the electoral roll, you may vote.”
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Elections Alberta cleared later within the day.
“Based on the laws, a voter should seem on the record of voters to be eligible to vote, however there are a lot of methods this will occur, together with registering in individual throughout advance voting or on election day,” mentioned Elections Alberta.
Elections Alberta lists all of the methods a voter might be registered on its web site.
Wesley mentioned some potential voters could keep residence in the event that they discover the duty of registering to vote an excessive amount of hassle.
“Persons are sort of primed to think about elections as more durable than they’re and the extra boundaries we are able to take away to voting, the higher,” he mentioned.
Wesley mentioned Elections Alberta appears to need an organized election day and pre-registering folks makes it simpler for election staff, which he does not dispute.
“Nor do I dispute that it is a good suggestion for folks to exit and register forward of time. It saves you time,” he mentioned.
“However this isn’t the message that individuals in particularly historically marginalized communities want to listen to. They should hear that voting is straightforward.”
To register to vote earlier than going to the polls, Albertans who obtained a “Register to Vote” letter within the mail can use the instructions to register all voters within the family.
An Alberta driver’s license quantity or identification card quantity may also be used to register on the Elections Alberta web site.
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