Overview
- Elections Alberta said on Thursday that special‑ballot requests have surged to about 290,000 and that the application deadline has been moved from Oct. 9 to Sept. 25 to ensure ballots can be delivered and returned in time.
- Voters have reported incomplete packages and some forms containing outdated legal wording; officials told affected electors to contact the agency, said people can cross out the incorrect attestation, and promised corrected mailings going forward.
- The agency has set the count order so the separation question will be tallied and reported first, with results for that question expected overnight on Oct. 20 between about 1 a.m. and 4 a.m., followed by the nine other questions the next day.
- Elections Alberta says the vote will be hand‑counted across all 87 electoral divisions, will require roughly 60,000 workers, and will produce an unusually large volume of ballots that will slow reporting and complicate logistics.
- Opposition parties have demanded re‑mailing of corrected forms and blamed repeated election‑law changes and underfunding for operational strains, and former officials warn that errors or confusion could trigger legal challenges and damage the referendum’s legitimacy.