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More than 50 days remain before the province’s Oct. 19 referendum, but Elections Alberta says the requests it’s receiving to vote by mail this fall are already far outpacing recent elections.
Elections Alberta said as of Tuesday it has received more than 175,000 requests for special ballots, which provide the option to vote by mail.
The number of requests so far is nearly triple the 59,589 special ballots requested for the 2023 provincial election, which itself more than doubled the number requested ahead of the 2019 election.
The province is putting 10 questions to a referendum vote this fall. The ballots include a series of immigration and Constitution-related questions, as well as one on whether Alberta should hold a second, binding referendum on separation.
Part of the increased special ballot demand can be attributed to the end of the province’s “Vote Anywhere” system, said Elections Alberta.
Previously, electors could cast a ballot at any voting station across the province during the advanced voting period. But recent changes to the Elections Act has brought the system to an end, while special ballot eligibility has expanded to more voters.
“Electors must cast their ballots in their electoral division. They no longer have the option to ‘vote anywhere’ in Alberta,” Elections Alberta spokesperson Maia Hanrahan said via email on Tuesday.
“At the same time, legislative changes also expanded the availability of special ballots. Voters no longer need a reason to apply for special ballot, and we expect many people who used ‘vote anywhere’ to now vote by special ballot.”
WATCH | What’s driving special ballot interest in Alberta:
Why there’s a push to vote by special ballot in Alberta’s fall referendum
Alberta referendum vote by mail applications are open. Are you signing up?
Applications to vote by special ballot opened in July and run until Oct. 9, and are available to all eligible electors.
Elections Alberta will begin mailing special ballots to electors on Sept. 1, and they must receive special ballot packages back by mail before 5 p.m. on Oct. 16.
Chief electoral officer Gordon McClure said in July that Albertans may also want to vote by mail to take extra time to review 10 referendum questions.
Similarly, Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams said due to uncertainty about how long lineups to vote will be, coupled with Elections Alberta still looking for support to carry out the referendum, she’s unsurprised to see surging interest to vote by mail.
“We’ve got 10 questions that have over 400 words total just in the questions on all of these ballots put together,” said Williams.
“People know it’s going to be a more complicated process, they have questions about what the questions mean, they probably want to take a bit of time to reflect and look through what those questions mean and how they want to vote.”
Confusion among voters about the wording in any of the 10 questions on the ballot this fall might lead to longer wait times, which Williams said voters are wary of ahead of October.
She expects interest in mail-in ballots to increase further as discussion about the referendum heats up this fall.
“This is about the future of Alberta and of Canada,” she said.
People can secure a special ballot by completing an online form on Elections Alberta’s website, by email or by contacting the returning office for their electoral division starting Sept. 21.
Advance voting days run from Oct. 13-17. Voting locations on Oct. 19 will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.