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Citizen Initiative Petition Verification Scrutineers

Amendments made to the Citizen Initiative Act contained in Bill 23: Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2026, which come into force May 1, 2026, included provisions for scrutineers during a citizen initiative petition verification process, also referred to as the determination process. The supporting Citizen Initiative Regulation, which came into force April 23, 2026, provides further direction on scrutineer reporting.

The citizen initiative petition proponent and the Minister of Justice may both, in writing, appoint one or more lawyers who are active members of The Law Society to act as a scrutineer during the petition verification process, and are required to pay any costs of their scrutineers.

  • Elections Alberta will, after receiving the petition and signature sheets, advise the proponent and the Minister of Justice, in writing, the dates, times, and location of the petition verification process.
  • Scrutineers for the proponent and Minister of Justice may be present for the 21-day verification period. Only one scrutineer each for the proponent and the Minister may be present at the same time and scrutineers may perform their functions at more than one place, if applicable.
  • Scrutineers may observe the verification process in a manner that does not compromise its conduct including:
    • determination of whether the canvasser witnessed the signatures and signed the statement on each signature page, as required by the CEO,
    • the signatures contain the required information, and
    • the application of the random statistical sampling method.
  • Scrutineers may record, in writing, any information that in their opinion may be relevant to a judicial review.
  • Scrutineers must produce proof of their appointment before being admitted to the place where petition verification is being conducted.
  • The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) may designate where a scrutineer may observe the verification process.
  • No one may impede a scrutineer from performing their functions.
  • The proponent may be required to report matters respecting a scrutineer to the CEO in accordance with the regulations.
  • Scrutineers must maintain the confidentiality of all information that comes to their knowledge as a result of being a scrutineer, except in the case of a judicial review or other proceedings related to the Act.