Elections Alberta says its verification found no evidence that stolen voter information or fraudulent signatures were used to qualify the petition for a referendum.
Weeks of social media claims alleging widespread fraud in Alberta's successful independence petition have been directly contradicted by Elections Alberta's own verification process.
On Friday, the independent election authority announced it had completed verification of the citizen initiative petition seeking a referendum on Alberta independence and confirmed the petition had surpassed the required threshold to proceed.
In the same announcement, Elections Alberta also addressed two of the most widely circulated allegations surrounding the petition.
The Stay Free Alberta petition was officially successful.
— Peter McCaffrey (@peteremcc) July 24, 2026
"As part of the verification process, Elections Alberta screened the petition and has confirmed that none of the signatures submitted came from the seeded names on the Republican Party of Alberta’s List of Electors." https://t.co/wCHxRSjPNL
First, following last year's Republican Party of Alberta data breach, Elections Alberta inserted "seeded names" into the leaked list of electors. The purpose was simple: if anyone attempted to use the stolen voter list to manufacture signatures, those fake records would appear during verification.
According to Elections Alberta, that never happened.
"As part of the verification process, Elections Alberta screened the petition and has confirmed that none of the signatures submitted came from the seeded names on the Republican Party of Alberta's List of Electors."
The agency also responded to a social media claim from an NDP supporter who alleged their personal information had been stolen and that Elections Alberta contacted them even though they had never signed the petition.
After reviewing its verification records and contact logs, Elections Alberta said the allegation was not supported by the evidence.
"No individual contacted for verification reported their information was on the petition fraudulently."
The agency added that it reviewed the social media post against its verification procedures and records.
"The description in the social media post does not reflect that script or process and the verification records do not support the allegation. The account holder that made the post has not responded to requests for further information from Elections Alberta."
The findings undermine claims that the petition succeeded because of fraudulent signatures or the misuse of personal information obtained through the Republican Party data breach.
Instead, Alberta's independent election authority says its verification process found no evidence supporting either allegation.
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