Some voting stations will remain open late on referendum day, after not opening in time for their scheduled 9 a.m. MT starts.
Elections Alberta confirmed on Monday some voting locations were late to open.
For instance, an elections officer at the Shane Homes YMCA polling station in Calgary’s Rocky Ridge neighbourhood confirmed to CBC News that it opened at 9:55 a.m. The election agency said it will provide a full list of stations with extended closing times, later on Monday.
Steve Koristka said he arrived 10 minutes early to vote in Rocky Ridge on Monday, only to wait more than an hour before the station opened. By the time it did, he said 20 people were in line and several voters had already left.
“You could see people getting frustrated, and coming up and banging on the door and shaking the handles,” said Koristka.
“I chose to stick around because this election is important for everyone to get out there and have their say.”
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At another polling station, at Westminster School in Edmonton, voters in line told CBC News the polling station closed down shortly after 9 a.m. It still wasn’t open at 11:30 a.m.
Myrna Doiron said she came at 9:30 a.m. to vote, but wasn’t able to finish until after 12. Those in line were told the station had to be set up again and rechecked.
She said she waited because she believes it’s important.
“I’ve been taught: you vote and state your opinion. If you really want a say, you should vote.”
Edmonton voter Myrna Doiron arrived at the Westminster School polling station around 9:30 a.m. and found it temporarily closed. (Mrinali Anchan/CBC)
A spokesperson for the provincial election agency confirmed stations that opened late will remain open past their scheduled 8 p.m. closure to give voters enough time to cast their ballots, which will delay Albertans receiving results.
Albertans are voting in Monday’s referendum on whether the province should pursue a second binding referendum to separate from Canada, and on nine other questions about immigration and the Constitution.
Polling stations are open across Alberta until 8 p.m. Elections Alberta has said anyone in line when a station closes will be allowed to vote.
Elections Alberta workers will begin counting advanced voting and special ballots at 5 p.m. The provincial election agency has said 1.3 million people voted prior to referendum day via mail-in and advanced ballots.
On Monday, Elections Alberta spokesperson Maia Hanrahan said the organization hired 47,000 elections officers, which she called a “fantastic response” after launching a recruitment campaign ahead of the referendum.
The agency had hoped to hired 60,000.
“We’re really happy with the response and with the number of people we have,” Hanrahan told CBC Radio’s Calgary Eyeopener on Monday.
“This is enough people for us to run the voting places and the count.”
Elections Alberta will first count Question 10, on separation, before it counts questions one through nine.
Its online results page will go live once all the voting stations are confirmed to be closed, Hanrahan said.
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Voters at Hinton’s lone polling station, located at the Hinton Centre, reported short wait times and no lines Monday morning. The parking lot outside is full of cars, but voters were moving in and out of the centre quickly.
Simon Chislett said that voting took under five minutes, and that the process was straightforward.
“No matter which way everybody votes, I think everybody has to be heard, no matter what,” he said.
Lisa Quakenbush, left, and Kendall Alcorn visited a polling station at the Southern Alberta Ethnic Association in Lethbridge. They faced no lineups while voting over the lunch hour. (Stephen Tipper/CBC)
Outside a polling station in Lethbridge at noon, Kendall Alcorn said he found the voting process easy. He’s concerned about Alberta’s future and growing polarization.
“Even amongst my own family, with my adult relatives, this is a topic we can’t discuss because it will sometimes turn into throwing fists,” he said. “I don’t understand that strict division, because in the end we all want what’s best for Alberta. We just have different ways of approaching that.”
In Calgary, Shannon Shirt cast a ballot in the southwest Windsor Park neighbourhood around 9:20 a.m., and even without a voter card, faced little trouble as a registered voter.
“I’m feeling relieved now,” said Shirt. “It was really quick.”
Tearra Johnston visited the polling station at the First Assembly Church on Elbow Drive Monday morning. She was relieved there were no lineups. She moved houses recently and staff helped her fill out a declaration form so she can vote in her new neighbourhood. (Elise Stolte/CBC)
Tearra Johnston voted at First Assembly Church in Calgary on Monday morning. She said her professor at Mount Royal University gave students the day off to vote.
“I think he just wants to make sure that we go out and vote, and just do it. But it was really easy,” said Johnston.
She added that earlier this year, some of her classmates thought of the referendum as a joke. But quite a few have now changed their minds to take the potential consequences of the referendum questions more seriously, she said, and planned to vote on Monday.
Over in Calgary’s Riverbend neighbourhood, Chané Neveling brought her mug of coffee along when she went to vote. She said she read all 10 questions carefully as she voted, even though she had researched them before.
“From start to finish, 10 minutes. We didn’t wait at all. But come noon or after work, I think people are going to come.”
A steady flow of people stopped by the polling station at St. Damien School in Calgary’s Dover neighbourhood Monday morning, including from left to right, Andrew Pawelko, Yohannes Yohannes and Danara Robson. Both Yohannes and Robson had the wrong polling station location and were directed to a new location a short distance away. (Elise Stolte/CBC)
In Calgary’s Dover neighbourhood, 19-year-old Danara Robson took the day off her retail job to make sure she had time to vote. She checked online where to vote and entered her home address, but was sent to the wrong polling station.
“It’s not a huge deal, just a short walk. But a little inconvenient,” she said.
She said she was nervous about the results, hoping people would come out and make their position known. It was her first time voting.
As for the results, some voters say they’ll be checking for results tomorrow morning; others will be refreshing the news sites and Elections Alberta results page tonight.
“Generally, I’ll just wait until the next day unless my mom starts sending me updates,” said Andrew Pawelko, who added he got to the voting station just before the lines started to build.
Last fall, some Albertans had to wait more than an hour to vote in municipal elections.
For live results and analysis on referendum night, watch Alberta Votes: Referendum Night starting at 7 p.m. MT on CBC TV in both Calgary and Edmonton, CBC Gem, CBC News YouTube, CBC News App, CBC News Network, and listen live on CBC Radio One.
Referendum results will also be covered live on the CBC Edmonton and CBC Calgary websites.
Then, tune into Alberta Morning on Oct. 20 starting at 5:30 a.m. MT on CBC Radio One and CBC TV in both Calgary and Edmonton.
