Alberta Liberal leader asks for probe into election

Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft is asking the province's auditor general to investigate the "chaos" that allegedly wreaked havoc on the March 3rd election.

In a letter sent to Auditor General Fred Dunn Monday, Taft alleges hundreds and possibly thousands of people didn't get to vote because of widespread problems across Alberta during voting day.

Taft then asked Dunn look into Election Alberta's conduct and management of the election, which he alleges was plagued by widespread reports of problems.

One station alleges as many as 300 not having voting cards, causing many people to leave in frustration without casting a ballot.

Other voters were simply told to go to the wrong place. Long lineups due to confusion also led people to leave without voting.

"Widespread voting irregularity like these bring the entire electoral system into disrepute feeding voter apathy and cynicism," Taft said. "The message this sends to voters is their vote doesn't matter."

Taft said the confusion and poor organization fuelled the low voter turnout. Only 41.4 per cent of eligible voters came out to cast a ballot in the spring election.

Along with the letter, the Liberals also sent along more than 80 e-mails from voters containing complaints on how the election was run.