EDMONTON — Alberta’s United Conservative government is inviting a political scientist and a pollster to help a panel tasked with redrawing the province’s voting lines.

The legislature committee overseeing the panel has voted to bring on the advisers to offer expertise on voting behaviour.

Opposition NDP members of the committee say drawing the maps based on how a resident might mark a ballot will only harm Albertans’ right to vote.

UCP member Garth Rowswell says it’s about giving the panel access to people they feel can aid in their work, and he says the NDP is trying to interfere.

It comes after Premier Danielle Smith’s government earlier this year opted to go back to the drawing board on the boundary redrawing process, setting aside much of a previous independent public commission’s report.

Smith’s government has said it’s about ensuring there is fair representation for rural areas, but the NDP has said the UCP is trying to give itself an unfair advantage come election time.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2026.

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press