Candidates Shouldn’t Have To Publish Address, Says Group

An advocacy group in New Brunswick is calling for changes to the Elections Act to improve candidate safety.

See Jane Run is a Saint John-based organization that encourages women to get involved in politics.

The group wants Elections New Brunswick to abolish a requirement that says candidates must publish their home addresses.

“Limiting access to personal addresses is a pretty important safety measure,” said Brittany Merrifield, co-founder of the group.

Merrifield ran for mayor in Grand Bay-Westfield in the current election and was acclaimed.

She said the impact of having to publish personal addresses hit close to home for one local candidate.

“A male who doesn’t know her had gone first to her municipality’s office and later went to the Elections New Brunswick returning office to get information about that candidate, including her home address,” said Merrifield.

Merrifield said this is not only a safety issue for candidates but also members of their families.

In addition to being a safety concern, Merrifield said the requirement can also be a deterrent for potential candidates.

“Some potential candidates, particularly women and other underrepresented and marginalized groups, are likely to be dissuaded by this publication of their home address,” she said.

“I think that Elections New Brunswick is able to verify residency qualifications without having that information out to the general public.”

According to the group, the United Kingdom changed its election rules in 2009 so candidates would have the option of not having their home addresses disclosed publicly while still allowing the returning officer to verify the candidate’s residency.

The group’s lawyer has written to Elections New Brunswick asking them to propose a similar change to the government.

Chief electoral officer Kim Poffenroth said she intends to bring forward a recommendation after the election to have the address requirement changed going forward.

Poffenroth noted that several candidates came forward during this election expressing concern about having their home addresses published.

In those instances, Elections New Brunswick replaced the candidates’ addresses with the address of the local municipal returning office.