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Elections Alberta moved Friday to reassure the province’s voters that their information is safe, following what it called “a significant volume” of social media posts, including some expressing concern about being deregistered.
“Elections Alberta would like to reassure Albertans their information in Voterlink is safe and secure, and that contrary to reports, no voter registrations have been removed from the List of Electors without electors’ consent,” Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure said in a news release.
The news release was triggered after social media posts suggested that some names were no longer registered in Voterlink, Elections Alberta’s online voter registration tool.
“Voters who have feedback on the registration tool are welcome to contact Elections Alberta directly,” Elections Alberta told CBC News in a statement on Friday.
“Voterlink allows electors to check and update their registration information, and registration typically takes less than five minutes.”
The office said some electors may have issues accessing their information due to errors in inputting information.
It also noted that it has seen an increase in misinformation on social media ahead of the upcoming October referendum.
“Misinformation about voter registrations is the latest social media rumour being promoted in an effort to cause concerns related to the referendum,” McClure said.
Elections Alberta said it had identified some common issues that are preventing people from accessing their voter registration information. It said voters should make sure they enter their last name exactly as it’s spelt on their ID, format postal codes correctly and refrain from using autofill. If voters can still not access their status, they may call Elections Alberta at 780-427-7191.
“We have received hundreds of phone calls and emails following the rumour online,” Elections Alberta said.
“No one who has called has had their registration removed without their request. We have been able to verify every individual.”