Liberal Party to rely on Canada Post app to confirm voters’ identities in leadership race

The Liberal Party plans to rely heavily on Canada Post to confirm the voters’ identities in the leadership race to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Before being allowed to cast a ballot, registered Liberals will have to verify their identity. Newly published rules say this can be done either through an in-person visit to a participating Canada Post Office or by using Canada Post’s Identity+ mobile app. The app scans ID documents such as a passport or driver’s licence and requires users to photograph themselves as a way of confirming their identity.

The party released a six-page document this week that outlines the rules for verification ahead of the leadership vote, the results of which will be announced on March 9.

They say voters can cast their ballot online or by phone through an automated message. There will be no option to vote in-person.

Voting is open to individuals who were listed as registered Liberals by the party as of the Jan. 27 cutoff date. Liberal Party rules allow people as young as 14 to register. Further, they must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or have status under the Indian Act. They also have to primarily reside in Canada and can’t be a member of any other federal political party in the country.

The focus on confirming voter identity follows recent scrutiny about the vulnerability of political parties to foreign interference in their electoral processes.

However, Jamie Carroll, who was national director of the Liberal Party for a period in 2006 and 2007, said the involvement of Canada Post will likely discourage some registered Liberals from completing the process and casting a ballot.

Mr. Carroll said he welcomes the party’s effort to take the risk of interference and validation seriously, but added that “They seem to have found the most awkward and least efficient possible way to do that.”

He said some may find the process too cumbersome and not follow through, particularly younger people who may not have a driver’s licence or passport to easily confirm their identities. And he said there are other online verification options, such as through Interac, that could have been used.

Mr. Carroll, who said he is supporting Mark Carney for the leadership but is not actively campaigning for him, said he’s heard concerns about the process from several of the leadership campaigns but they are reluctant to criticize the party.

“There’s a concern among the campaigns that this is going to disenfranchise thousands, if not tens of thousands of potentially eligible voters,” he said.

How Canada’s federal political parties set rules for participation in party elections was a topic of scrutiny during hearings of the public inquiry into foreign interference, led by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue.

The inquiry heard testimony last year about the Liberal Party’s membership rules and concerns that they opened the door to potential foreign interference.

On Friday, a government panel called the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force issued a statement saying it had identified an information operation with links to China targeting Liberal leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland. It said the operation involved more than 30 WeChat news accounts that shared content disparaging Ms. Freeland.

The three other candidates in the leadership race are former House leader Karina Gould and former Liberal MPs Frank Baylis and Ruby Dhalla.

Liberal Party spokesperson Parker Lund said in an e-mail that the party has created “the most secure and accessible voting process in Canadian history.”

He said the Canada Post Identity+ app is trusted by businesses and governments across the country and that there are more than 6,000 participating Canada Post locations that will provide in-person verification.

“Our comprehensive ID requirements protect the integrity of the vote while ensuring registered Liberals, including young Canadians, have a wide array of options available to verify their identity before they can cast a ballot,” he said.

When asked how much the Liberals are paying Canada Post to provide this service, Mr. Lund said the party does not discuss the specifics of contracts.

On the campaign trail, Mr. Carney spoke with reporters in Regina Tuesday, where his comments mostly focused on how he would respond to tariff threats from the United States.

He said Canada should focus on reducing internal trade barriers and expanding trade with other markets. He also said he supports building major new infrastructure projects, including pipelines, trade corridors and port infrastructure, “for our new trading partners.”

Ms. Freeland announced several economic policies Tuesday, including pledges on cutting the second income-tax bracket rate from 20.5 per cent to 19 per cent; eliminating the GST on new homes for first-time buyers; capping credit-card interest rates at 15 per cent; capping profit margins on essential groceries; and adding 100,000 more $10-a-day child care spaces.

The NDP criticized Ms. Freeland’s announcement as a flip-flop, saying the Liberal government previously opposed NDP efforts to cap grocery prices.

The Liberal Party announced late last month that nearly 400,000 people are signed up as registered Liberals and will be eligible to vote in the leadership race, provided they go through the verification process.

The party said the number of registered Liberals nearly quadrupled since Mr. Trudeau announced his intention to resign on Jan. 6.

The rules released this week say any misrepresentation in the verification process may result in a fine of up to $10,000, but do not explain how this would be enforced or collected.