Many Alberta voters may be stripped of the right to vote if a controversial law passes as expected. Bill 20, the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, is part of a larger suite of bills designed to clamp down on dissent.
Bill 20 has garnered a lot of criticism for making it easier for the provincial government to remove locally-elected officials and overturn municipal bylaws. A lesser-known provision would also eliminate the practice of vouching during local elections. Vouching allows a verified person living in their polling district to attest to another person’s identity so they can participate in the election.
The move might appear relatively uncontroversial. Indeed, most voters produce some form of physical identification at the polling station, like a driver’s licence.
