VANCOUVER — Conservative Party of BC members have until tomorrow night to upload personal ID and a selfie through an American company’s online system or risk losing their vote in the leadership race..The party is requiring its roughly 42,000 members to verify their identity using Persona Identities Inc., a San Francisco firm that specializes in fraud-prevention checks.Since late April, eligible members have received email links asking for a government-issued photo ID — such as a provincial driver’s licence or passport — plus a 'selfie' for facial matching. Some are also asked for proof of address.Only those who clear the process by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on May 20 will receive ballots. Voting runs May 23 to 39, with results expected May 30.Leadership election rules adopted in mid-January called for a third-party identity verification system to protect the integrity of the May 23–29 online vote following a surge in new memberships. The party later contracted Persona to deliver the third-party system, with implementation details released in late April.In justifying the verification process, many have pointed to past problems with fake memberships and ballot-stuffing allegations during an earlier leadership review.But the new requirement has triggered a strong backlash of its own within the party.A rumour circulated Tuesday that even some sitting British Columbia MLAs have been unable to complete the party’s voter verification process and have requested extensions to establish eligibility for the Conservative leadership vote..More rank-and-file members have called it invasive, arguing it forces them to hand sensitive personal and biometric information to a foreign private company.Others worry the data could be kept for years or shared, and they question whether it complies with Canadian privacy rules.Many also report technical headaches. One user on X, for example, said he cannot verify himself as he works in an area without internet service for two weeks at a time.And then there are older members and those less comfortable with technology generally..The BC Conservative Party has offered help-desk support (including multilingual assistance) by phone and email, as well as in-person verification assistance at selected campaign events and locations across the province. Officials note that in-person sessions provide hands-on help but still use the same online Persona system.Leadership candidate Kerry-Lynne Findlay posted Tuesday afternoon that her team is holding drop-in Zoom sessions “today to make it as easy as possible for you to finish the process,” alongside phone support..For some members, however, there remains little room for compromise. A segment of the BC Conservative base built much of its identity around opposition to government digital ID, vaccine mandates and perceived state surveillance. No public polling quantifies opposition to digital ID among BC Conservative members but the issue has prompted vocal resistance and boycott threats from some who view the verification requirement as a betrayal of core principles.At least one leadership candidate, entrepreneur Yuri Fulmer, has explictly campaigned on a platform pledging to ban mandatory digital ID for provincial services if elected — highlighting the irony of the party’s chosen verification method..No official update on the number of verified voters has been released as the May 20 deadline passed Tuesday night. One campaign source told the Vancouver Sun in mid-May that only about 11,000 members had successfully completed the process at that time.The leadership vote uses a weighted riding system. British Columbia’s 93 electoral districts each carry up to 100 points each under the current leadership voting system for the Conservative Party of BC.The points in each riding are divided among candidates according to the share of verified votes they receive there. If a riding has fewer than 100 verified ballots cast, it contributes only as many points as ballots received.Party officials say the system gives every region of the province a meaningful voice and prevents larger urban ridings from dominating the outcome. Low verification rates in some ridings — particularly smaller or rural ones — would reduce their influence and could tilt the result toward candidates with stronger support in areas where members had less trouble completing the online check.Voting results are scheduled to be announced May 30 at a leadership convention in Vancouver.
