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Roughly 639,000 voters had requested mail-in ballots as of Sept. 24 – more than a fifth of Alberta’s electorate.James Maclennan/The Canadian Press
Elections Alberta is attempting to crack down on misleading information online that is swirling around the province’s coming referendum, emphasizing election integrity as hundreds of thousands of Albertans for the first time are expected to cast mail-in ballots.
The province’s elections agency has become increasingly active on social media in recent weeks, putting out regular notices and responding to posts – a large number of which have cast doubt on the vote.
“Albertans should expect misinformation and disinformation campaigns to increase leading up to the referendum,” Elections Alberta wrote in an August news release.
In the past week alone, the agency has called out certain social media posts as “the latest disinformation attempt” and accused accounts of deliberately misleading electors. It has disabused speculation of voter fraud and taken great lengths to explain its safeguards around mail-in voting.
The effort is just one component of the daunting task before Elections Alberta as it works toward pulling off the Oct. 19 referendum, which it says is one of the biggest electoral events in Canadian history.
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Elections Alberta has ordered 45 million ballots for the 10 separate referendum questions, more than twice the number of ballots cast in the 2025 federal election, and it’s still trying to reach its target of hiring at least 60,000 election workers.
Roughly 639,000 voters had requested mail-in ballots as of Friday – more than a fifth of Alberta’s electorate.
It is the first time that Albertans have unrestricted access to mail-in ballots for a provincial vote. Voters were previously required to prove that they couldn’t cast their ballot in person.
Massive interest in Alberta’s newly expanded mail-in voting process has added to the heavy lift for the electoral agency.
On Monday, Elections Alberta responded to a surge of online claims that ineligible electors living outside Alberta could be approved to receive a mail-in ballot.
Eva Chipiuk, a prominent independence advocate and lawyer, was among the voices asking the agency to clarify its rules after one poster said they registered a family member from the U.S.
Elections Alberta responded: “There is a difference between raising a potential issue with a process and deliberately misleading electors with faked confirmations and screens. We clarified many times: no valid Alberta address, no getting past screen 1. No valid voter record, no approval. No valid ID, no vote.”
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Some organizers in Alberta’s separatist movement have encouraged supporters to vote by mail. Keith Wilson, the lawyer behind Let Alberta Decide, said in an interview that he has promoted voting from home.
Mr. Wilson said some core independence supporters – farmers in the middle of harvest or remote camp workers, for example – may face roadblocks to voting on referendum day. He also fears long line-ups at the polls could discourage voters.
“We’ve encouraged them to vote by mail-in ballot so that their vote counts,” Mr. Wilson said.
Others in the pro-independence camp cite a deep mistrust with the voting method. Mitch Sylvestre, CEO of the Alberta Prosperity Project, said he has actively encouraged supporters to opt for in-person voting.
“My personal belief has always been that you should have to go vote in-person,” Mr. Sylvestre said.
“I have no faith in that system at all, and I don’t care how convenient it is.”
Pro-Canadian groups have roundly supported voting by mail, and on Friday fired off e-mails reminding voters that it was their last opportunity to register for a special ballot.
Observers say voters have likely been motivated to vote early out of convenience, and because of concerns around short-staffed polling booths and an unruly voting process.
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Elections Alberta has hired 32,000 elections officers for the referendum and received roughly 57,000 applications, it said in a Friday statement to The Globe and Mail. The agency says it needs at least 60,000 workers for the referendum to run smoothly. Observers also expect voting on 10 questions on separate ballots will slow down lines on voting day.
A handful of blunders by Elections Alberta have also fuelled concerns about referendum-day complications.
Despite Albertans’ unrestricted access to mail-in voting, swaths of ballots sent earlier this month accidentally included a section requiring signed testimony that they’re unable to vote in person – included with the threat of a $50,000 fine or prison time
Elections Alberta also found that 313 packages sent to electors were missing ballots, it said on Sept. 18.
Annalise Klingbeil, co-founder of Champion Communications and ex-staffer under former premier Rachel Notley, said Elections Alberta has been under pressure long before the referendum.
She pointed to the agency’s 2024-25 annual report that described an agency rife with chronic employee burnout. It referred to its operating model as “unreasonable and unsustainable” and said the electoral office had operated “for many years with an austerity approach.”
“I think it feels like the Elections Alberta machinery is being held together by chewing gum and duct tape at this point,” Ms. Klingbeil said. “It doesn’t give voters a lot of confidence, which is super concerning.”