Alberta: Third-Party Advertisers Can't Appoint Scrutineers, and Both Camps Are Unhappy

Elections Alberta has told registered third-party advertisers that they will not be able to appoint scrutineers in the upcoming referendum — a decision CBC reports has drawn criticism from campaigners on both the federalist and separatist sides. That both camps are unhappy is the interesting part. A procedural ruling that irritates both sides equally is either a sign of even-handedness or of a rule cutting against something each side assumed it had, and either reading says the campaign is being fought over the machinery of the vote as much as the question on the ballot.