Alberta votes on referendum as turnout tops 1.3 million

Albertans are voting Monday on a 10-question referendum that includes whether the province should stay in Canada, after 1,356,873 ballots were cast in advance polls and by mail, Elections Alberta said.

Polls are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. MT. Elections Alberta began counting mail-in and advance ballots at 5 p.m. local time, and results for Question 10, the separation question, are expected between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. MT on Tuesday. Results on the other nine questions should be complete by Wednesday, and official results are due Oct. 29.

Of the ballots already cast between Oct. 13 and Oct. 17, 837,791 came from advance voting locations and 519,082 were special ballots mailed in. That is 43.1 per cent of the 3,148,343 eligible electors, compared with 27.5 per cent at the same point in the 2023 provincial election. Elections Alberta has said the special ballot figures are not directly comparable with 2023 because those ballots were not available to all electors then.

Questions 1 to 5 deal with immigrants’ access to health care, education and citizenship, and Questions 6 to 9 deal with Alberta’s constitutional and judicial powers. Question 10 asks whether Alberta should remain in Canada or hold a second, binding referendum on separation.

An Ipsos poll of 801 Albertans for Global News found about 70 per cent planned to vote to remain in Canada, while 23 per cent supported starting the legal process toward a binding separation vote, up three points since September.

Premier Danielle Smith said she voted to keep Alberta in Canada and urged a “yes” on the other nine questions. She said that if voting goes as polling suggests, she expects everyone to “accept it and move on.” Leaders of the independence movement disagree, according to Global News.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said, “Our country and your futures are too precious to play games with.” Thomas Lukaszuk, founder of the Forever Canadian petition, said the referendum “comes at the worst time possible, compliments of Premier Danielle Smith.” Former premier Jason Kenney said the outcome is not guaranteed, despite what polls suggest.

This is a developing story and will be updated when results are released. Via Global News and CP24.

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