Elections Alberta moves mail-in ballot deadline up to Sept. 25 amid surge

Elections Alberta has moved up the deadline to request a special mail-in ballot to Sept. 25, more than two weeks earlier than the originally planned Oct. 9 cutoff. Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure said the change was made after assessing surging application volumes and accounting for the Thanksgiving holiday on Oct. 12, to ensure voters have enough time to complete and mail back their ballots before election day.

Requests for special ballots have climbed to 290,000, up from 225,000 just two days earlier, and are already four times higher than during the last provincial general election. The agency said it is still hiring several thousand more workers ahead of the Oct. 19 referendum, which includes Question 10 on Alberta separation. Officials said separation ballots will be counted first, with results expected between 1 and 4 a.m. on Oct. 20, and workers have until 8 p.m. on Oct. 21 to finish the full count.

Elections Alberta also addressed voter confusion over the special ballot declaration form, which contains leftover language requiring electors to declare they are unable to vote in person. The agency said electors may cross out that line and complete the rest of the form, and it will be removed from future mailings. Concerns about ballot folding were also addressed; officials said any ballot returned in a completed package will be accepted regardless of how it is folded.

Completed special ballot packages must reach Elections Alberta by 5 p.m. on Oct. 16. Voters whose packages don't arrive in time can still vote in advance or in person on Oct. 19, and tracking links let electors monitor their ballot's status online.