Days before New Brunswickers head to the polls for the municipal elections, the province’s chief electoral officer is calling for stronger privacy legislation.
The ask includes better safety protections to avoid a voter information breach, like what has happened in Alberta.
“Voter information that is with Elections New Brunswick is completely secure. But all candidates that run in elections — whether it’s municipal or provincial — are entitled to receive the voters’ lists for the candidates in their area,” said chief electoral officer Kim Poffenroth.
In Alberta, a third-party separatist group allegedly leaked millions of voters’ information online, including names, numbers and addresses.
Elections Alberta said last week the Republican Party of Alberta’s legitimate copy of the list of electors unlawfully ended up in the hands of — a group committed to getting Alberta to leave Canada.
Security experts said the alleged leak, which included nearly three million names, has created a potential public safety and political interference crisis.
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Elections Alberta and the RCMP have launched separate investigations.
Poffenroth said she’s calling on Premier Susan Holt’s government to look into stronger legislation regarding what New Brunswick candidates can do with voter data.
“There are rules in legislation but there is not the same kind of robust regime in information privacy that government and Elections New Brunswick have to comply with,” she said.
Elections New Brunswick raised similar concerns in a 2025 report on electoral data privacy, where it found New Brunswick has outdated voter privacy laws. The report recommended removing vulnerable voters’ information from lists and requiring parties to provide privacy policies prior to receiving the data.
Meanwhile, Green Party Leader David Coon said he plans to introduce a bill that would, in part, protect voter privacy.
“There’s so many concerns about our election legislation that have been left unaddressed because neither this government or the previous government wanted to touch it,” said Coon.
Official Opposition Leader Glen Savoie agrees privacy is a concern.
“Certainly something as important as our electoral system, you want to make sure that you’re always able to defend itself against misuse,” he said.
Local Governance Minister Aaron Kennedy would not provide an interview to Global News by deadline.
His office recommended Global News contact the Office of the Ombud for New Brunswick.
The Ombud’s office did not respond to an interview request.
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