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Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel says the controversy surrounding a five-year ban barring him from running in elections has only enhanced his popularity and energized party members.

“People are really paying attention to the Alberta Party,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “It has energized our people … I’ve talked to all our candidates and they’re really pumped up.

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“I can’t tell you the number of people who have come up to me and said, ‘Keep fighting this, this is ridiculous.’ ”

He said people are “amazed and shocked” that his late filing of a zero-dollar return spurred Elections Alberta to hand him what he has described as a draconian penalty.

His case is set to go to the Court of Queen’s Bench on Feb. 22.

Elections Alberta listed Mandel as ineligible to run for five years after he missed the deadline to file his campaign expense paperwork.

He said the rules were confusing and disagrees with the timeline laid out by Elections Alberta. He plans to argue in court that he did in fact file his paperwork within the four-month window outlined in legislation.