Monday is the last day for Calgarians and the rest of the province to vote in the Alberta referendum.
In a historic vote, residents will have their say on policies related to immigration, constitutional reform, and Alberta’s place in Canada.
Voters who have not yet cast their ballot must do so today, Oct. 19, before polling stations, which opened at 9 a.m., close at 8 p.m. tonight, with counting expected to begin in the late afternoon.
Electors may vote only at their assigned polling location, which they can find online or by calling Elections Alberta for help. Registering to vote is mandatory, but you can register at any time, including in person at a voting centre.
To be eligible, you must live in the division and be a Canadian citizen aged 18 or older.
All electors must provide proof of identity and physical address, which you can verify with one piece of government-issued ID, such as a driver’s license or identification card.
If an elector does not have a single appropriate government-issued ID, they can provide two pieces, both showing the voter’s full name and one showing their current physical address, or submit a signed attestation form.
Advance voting days, held from Oct. 13 to 17, have already passed, and special mail-in ballot voting must have been submitted no later than Oct. 9 to ensure it was received in time for counting.
According to a Sunday news release, preliminary turnout numbers show that Elections Alberta has already received 1.3 million advance votes and special ballots, leaving 1.7 million eligible electors to vote.
Taking the temperature of voters
Mayor Jeromy Farkas kicked off election day as one of the city’s first voters by casting his ballot at a polling station in the southwest community of Glamorgan.
“I think that Calgarians and Albertans understand the weight of this moment. The actual questions themselves are kind of convoluted,” Mayor Farkas told reporters.
“I would say a significant challenge that has been identified is the language is very long in some of the questions.”
A voter who cast his ballot at the Ernest Manning High School station shared a similar sentiment, offering that he was “voting no to everything.”
“The questions are set up in a way that’s meant to, like, it’s not clear on purpose,” he said.
“That’s what I think.”
Electors can expect to fill out one ballot for each of the 10 referendum questions, which they’re encouraged to read beforehand to ensure full comprehension and spend less time behind the trifold.
Another voter who cast her ballot there in the afternoon said that the wait was next to nothing and that the process and questions were “very easy” to understand.
“Just disagreement with the federal government and how they’re treating us,” she explained.
