Albertans Want Better Safeguards for Voter Information

Vancouver, BC June 2, 2026 – These are the results of an online poll conducted on behalf of the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA). The poll was conducted roughly two weeks after news of an unauthorized exposure of an official Elections Alberta voter list.
The poll shows substantial support for increased safeguards for voter information use by political parties and a rejection of political party self-regulation and oversight. 

Albertans support legal safeguards for voter information use by political parties.
Two-thirds (68%) of Albertans say that political parties should have “a legal duty to protect voter information against unauthorized access, sharing, copying, or misuse”. 
More than six-in-ten Albertans also believe political parties should have safeguards such as: 
   •   A legal duty to notify affected individuals and the appropriate regulator when voter information is breached or misused (63%)
   •   Penalties or other enforcement consequences for serious misuse, unauthorized sharing, or failure to protect voter information (63%)

Other safeguards a majority of Albertans think should be required by law when political parties, candidates, campaign organizations, or their agents collect, use, share, or retain voter information, include the following:
   •   A legal right for individuals to request correction of inaccurate personal information held for political purposes (54%)
   •   A legal right for individuals to request deletion or withdrawal of consent where the information is no longer needed for an authorized purpose (54%)
   •   A legal right for individuals to access personal information held about them for political purposes (51%)
   •   A legal duty to limit voter information to authorized electoral or democratic purposes (50%)
 
Albertans do not want political parties to oversee cases where voter information is breached, misused or shared without authorization. 
Albertans were asked for their preferred oversight approach if voter information held or used by political parties or campaign organizations is breached, misused, or shared without authorization. 
The preferred approach for nearly half (48%) of Albertans is one where “elections agencies and privacy commissioners should share oversight of political parties and campaign organizations’ use of voter information, with clear authority to investigate, order corrective action, and refer serious cases for penalties”.
The next most preferred approach, chosen by 20% of Albertans, is one where “elections agencies should be solely responsible for overseeing political parties and campaign organizations’ use of voter information because the information is connected to elections”.
Albertans are much less supportive of approaches that do not include oversight by election agencies and/or privacy commissioners. 
   •   Only 10% say they prefer that “political parties and campaign organizations should be responsible for investigating and resolving these matters themselves under their own published privacy policies”. 
   •   Only 5% prefer an approach where “political parties and campaign organizations should not be subject to external oversight requirements because they need to communicate with voters and participate in elections”.

Albertans want political parties to have the same private-sector privacy laws as other organizations.
More than eight-in-ten (84%) Albertans agree that when political parties (as well as candidates, campaign organizations, and their agents) collect, use, share, or retain voter information, “they should be subject to the same private-sector privacy laws that apply to other organizations” (9% disagree).
Two-thirds (67%) of Albertans are supportive of rules drafted specifically for political parties, i.e. they agree that political parties “should be subject to a specific privacy law designed for political parties and campaign organizations” (21% disagree).
Albertans do not support political party-drafted privacy policies or exemptions from privacy-law requirements.
   •   83% agree that political parties “should be required to comply with privacy law based on fair information principles, rather than relying only on party-drafted privacy policies” (9% disagree).
   •   66% disagree that political parties “should be allowed to rely on their own published privacy policies instead of being subject to privacy legislation” (24% agree).
   •   62% disagree that political parties “should be exempt from some privacy-law requirements if those requirements would unreasonably limit their ability to communicate with voters” (26% disagree).

Albertans support several ideas to strengthen privacy rights and accountability.
Albertans were asked to select which of five statements comes closest to their view about balancing political communication and privacy protections.
The top four statements all place restrictions on when and under what circumstances political parties can use voter information.
   •   27% say “political parties and candidates should not be allowed to collect, use, or retain personal information about voters outside official election periods”
   •   25% say “political parties and candidates should only be allowed to use voter information where individuals have given consent”
   •   19% say “Political parties and candidates should have access to voter information for authorized election purposes only, with clear legal limits, security and privacy duties”
   •   10% say “political parties and candidates should be allowed to use voter information during and between elections, but only for clearly defined political purposes and with privacy safeguards”
Only 4% of Albertans most prefer an approach where “political parties and candidates need broad access to voter information to communicate with people and support democratic participation, even if this means fewer privacy rules”. 

About the Study

These are the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between May 22 and 26, 2026, on behalf of the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA). For this survey, a sample of 801 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online. These data were statistically weighted by region, age, gender and education to ensure the sample composition reflects that of the actual Alberta population according to Census data. The precision of Ipsos polls containing online data is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the overall poll is accurate to within +/ -4.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all adult Alberta residents been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Kyle Braid
SVP, Ipsos Public Affairs
+1 604 788-2417
[email protected]

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