Trudeau request for Liberal voter registration change angers rival Murray camp

OTTAWA – At least one rival camp is crying foul over front-runner Justin Trudeau’s attempt to extend the deadline for voter registration in the Liberal leadership race.

Vancouver MP Joyce Murray’s team says the Trudeau camp’s justification for the extension “doesn’t smell right.”

The Trudeau team says an extension is warranted because the party has had trouble sending registration forms to more than 100,000 people who signed up as Liberal supporters without providing email addresses.

But Jamie Carroll, Murray’s campaign chair, says organizers either failed to request the information, or they deliberately withheld addresses from the party so rival candidates couldn’t try to poach their support.

In either case, Carroll says it would be unfair for the party to suddenly change the rules.

While he’s not accusing the Trudeau camp directly, Carroll says most of the 100,000-plus supporters without email addresses appear to have been signed up by the front-runner.