‘Underhanded’: United Conservatives are arguing over how to conduct a historic vote on Jason Kenney’s political future

EDMONTON—As concerns are raised about how one of the most crucial votes in Alberta political history is conducted, a group of 33 United Conservative constituency association presidents is pushing back on potential changes to the process.

Premier Jason Kenney is in the fight of his political life as April 9 approaches and the group of presidents say the party brass attempting to change some rules around the leadership review set for that date could be seen as dishonest.

The review will determine by a yes-or-no vote whether the United Conservative Party (UCP) members still approve of Kenney after years of his controversial handling of the pandemic. There could be 20,000 people at the vote in Red Deer, according to party estimates. The UCP has more than 13,700 registered to go — already far exceeding the previously held record for attendees at a UCP event, which was its founding convention with 2,800 people in 2018.

Now, though, concerns are being raised by the 33 UCP constituency association presidents about discussions happening at the top of the party, regarding whether it should open up voting stations in other parts of the province.

Some observers have suggested that it could unfairly favor Kenney.

The perception, say experts, is that the pro-Kenney campaign knew for longer than the anti-Kenney side that voting could happen in various cities. Kenney’s backers could have benefited from having that knowledge while they were selling UCP memberships to Albertans who wanted to participate in the review, some say.

Critics, like UCP MLA-elect Brian Jean, who recently won a byelection in Fort McMurray while campaigning on trying to use Kenney as leader, said changing the rules late in the game “will have lots of Albertans very angry.”

“Many people made decisions based on the fact that it was one day in one place,” he said in a social media post. “They believed what they were told and now they are disenfranchised.”

Jean has also called for an independent auditor to oversee the voting process. He lost the 2017 leadership election to Kenney amid allegations of voter fraud and cheating. An RCMP investigation into identity fraud was also launched after the race.

Reports that the logistics could be changing, even though the early-bird cut-off for registering members for the vote was March 19, pushed the 33 constituency presidents to meet on Monday and make recommendations to the UCP board.

The resulting letter to the board — which will make the decisions on how votes are cast — didn’t hold back on communicating concerns about fairness.

They came up with five suggestions. Keep the vote in Red Deer; keep it at the current hotel; change the voting so it takes place over 12 hours instead of just six; increase the number of scrutineers; and conduct the vote on paper, not electronically, because doing the latter “seems to us like a ‘glitch’ waiting to happen,” says the letter.

“You decided Red Deer was the location and told us one site helped secure the integrity of the vote,” said the letter, which was obtained by the Star. “We think to change this now becomes an even greater logistical difficulty to ensure volunteers exist in multiple cities.”

The presidents said changing this could be seen as “underhanded” and that many people have already booked accommodations for the weekend.

“To change now makes us look disorganized and unprofessional,” they said.

There is, to be sure, a real logistical challenge with so many people expected to attend. Some in the party say that with so many descending onto the Cambridge Hotel in Red Deer, it would make sense to open various voting locations, like in Edmonton and Calgary.

The hotel in Red Deer could manage a few thousand, but 20,000 people might bring significant challenges, including parking issues or simply the processing of that amount of votes in the time allotted.

However, Lori Williams, a policy studies professor at Mount Royal University, says that things appear as though they’re being “rigged in favor of the premier.”

If some people campaigning for him knew that there would be multiple voting locations in the future — while the opposing side did not — it could increase the numbers a bit in his favour, she said. It’s more likely someone in a far-flung part of the province would pay for a UCP membership if they knew they didn’t have to go all the way to Red Deer to vote on Kenney, she added.

“This changing of the rules… has, again, raised more questions about the trustworthiness of the process,” said Williams.

“If Kenney wins, many of his opponents won’t trust him, won’t believe that it’s a free and fair vote, and that’s a problem. You can’t claim a victory if a substantial number of members of the party don’t trust the results.”

It’s unclear how the actual vote will shake out for Kenney, but the premier has faced tanking approval ratings for much of the pandemic and had to tamp down near-revolts in caucuses. Kenney needs support from 50 per cent plus one in order to hang on, although a group of angry MLAs unhappy with his leadership will still be in the UCP caucus if he does.

If Kenney gets less than a majority of the votes, a leadership race begins immediately.