So here in the Midwest USA, I can go to election commission and legally obtain the voter registration file.

It, by law, is public. Anybody who asks for it must be provided the file. Naturally the law is pre-internet and ignorant of abuses you can do.

But I'm not sure how this leak compares. Is it party affiliations and loads of PII to the point of impersonation?

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masfuerte 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

In the UK it's semi-public. The full register is available to politicians and credit reference agencies. You can inspect the register by attending in person at your local council office. You don't get a copy.

There's also the edited register, which anybody can buy a copy of. You only appear in this list if you opt-in when you register. I don't know why anybody does.

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justinclift 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Yeah, it almost sounds like the leaked information was... effectively the white pages for the area. ie name, address, and phone number

	▲	giarc 2 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		It is, but that's not the route they took. Another registered party (the Republican Party of Alberta) received the information legally, then shared it all with this group (likely illegally or at least against some rules). There's now speculation that the separatist group used it to add names to their petition since they required X number of signatures. For example, the group has claimed some communities had over 90% of electors sign the petition. Which most people would claim is really hard to physically do and also counter to the general polling in the province that finds about 25% of citizens support separation.
	▲	realo 2 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		So... the far right pro-Trump separatists in Alberta suddenly have name , address and phone number of any "woke" they want to harass. What can go wrong...