Advance polling opens today for Alberta referendum. Here’s what you need to know

Advance voting for the Alberta referendum starts Tuesday and continues until Saturday. 

Albertans are being asked to weigh in on 10 questions dealing with constitutional issues, immigration and Alberta’s future within Confederation. 

People who didn’t request a mail-in ballot, or who requested one but didn’t meet the deadline to return it, can vote at the advanced voting location in their electoral district rather than cast their vote on Oct. 19. 

Here’s what people need to know before they head to the polls. 

People must vote in the electoral district where they live; each district has at least one advanced poll. Locations of voting stations for the advanced polls and for Oct. 19 are available on this Elections Alberta searchable database. 

Poll locations could differ for advanced voting and referendum day.

Elections Alberta spokesperson Michelle Gurney said people should make sure they bring the correct identification to the poll. 

Since Albertans are being asked to weigh in on 10 different questions, Gurney said the process should go more quickly if voters read the ballot questions and think about their answers before going to the advanced poll. 

Information about the questions and types of eligible identification can be found on the Elections Alberta website. 

The agency received 652,000 requests for special mail-in ballots by the Sept. 25 cut-off date, so it’s anyone’s guess when trying to predict the number of voters who will cast a ballot at the advance polls. 

Gurney advises people who want to avoid long lineups to go at non-peak times during the day, like mid-morning or mid-afternoon, if they are able. 

Elections Alberta was advising people to mail their ballots no later than Oct. 9 to ensure they’re received by the 5 p.m. deadline on Friday, Oct. 16. 

If someone missed the deadline, Gurney said sending the ballot in via Canada Post Priority Post or Express Post is an option, as long as they act quickly. If that isn’t an option, people can vote in advance or on voting day.

Elections Alberta keeps a live record of who has voted to ensure no one votes twice. Gurney said if someone’s special ballot has already been received and counted, they will be sent on your way. If the special ballot hasn’t been received, they’ll get to vote. If the ballot package shows up at Elections Alberta, it will be rejected. 

“Our process is really robust and it’s designed to protect against voter fraud,” Gurney said. 

“That’s why it’s important to know that the voter record, the voter registry, is live and the elections workers have access to that. 

“And it’s being constantly updated to make sure that people have voted once.”

There are a lot of strong opinions and emotions around the referendum, particularly over the question of whether Alberta should stay in Canada or take the next step toward holding a binding referendum.

Gurney is urging everyone to be kind to each other. 

“Be kind to everybody in line. They’re your neighbours, your friends. Same with the election workers,” she said. 

“There’s a lot of tension around this event that we’ve been experiencing, sometimes in our service centre. 

“We’re all working toward the same thing. Every vote matters. We want to make sure every ballot gets cast.”