Whopping 225,000 Albertans requested special ballots ahead of referendum

“All special ballot packages must be received by Elections Alberta by 5:00 p.m on October 16. Albertans should consider the time it will take to move ballots through the postal system and have a plan to ensure their special ballot package is received by the deadline.”

More important information from Elections Alberta:

What’s changed since the 2023 Provincial General Election?

Amendments to the Election Act, which came into force July 4, 2025, mean Albertans will notice differences in their voting experience, such as:

Electors voting in person must cast their ballots in the electoral division where they ordinarily reside, as tabulators enabling ‘vote anywhere’ cannot be used.
Electors no longer need a reason to apply for a special ballot.
Special ballots must be returned to Elections Alberta by mail. They cannot be returned or completed in person at local returning offices. Special ballots must be received before 5:00pm on the Friday before Election Day.
Vouching is no longer accepted as a form of identification. However, there are over 50 forms of accepted identification, including attestation forms.

Three ways to vote

Electors who wish to vote in person MUST vote in their electoral division either at their assigned voting location on Election Day, October 19, 2026, or during Advance Voting at any advance voting location in their electoral division. Advance voting will take place from October 13 through 17, 2026.

Electors will receive Where to Vote cards by mail outlining their voting location options before advance voting begins. They can also look up their voting location options using Elections Alberta’s online Where to Vote tool at https://map.elections.ab.ca, available for the referendum after September 21, 2026. (Note: prior to that date, the tool will only be available for the Calgary-Shaw by-election).

Although electors no longer have the option to ‘vote anywhere’ during the advance vote, legislative changes expanded the availability of special ballots by no longer requiring a reason to apply for special ballot. Importantly, it is the only voting option for electors who will be away from their home electoral division for work, school, or travel during voting.

Election Day, October 19:

Voting locations will be open from 9:00am to 8:00pm. You can find your assigned voting location on your Where to Vote card, which will be mailed to you at the end of September. You can also check Elections Alberta’s online Where to Vote tool. Every elector is assigned an Election Day voting location based on their place of ordinary residence. Electors may only vote at their assigned voting location.

Advance Voting, October 13-17:

Electors may vote at any advance voting location established in their electoral division. Electors can find their advance voting locations on the Where to Vote card mailed to them, or using the Where to Vote tool. Advance voting locations will be open from 9:00am to 8:00pm. Every electoral division will have at least one location open for the full advance voting period.

Special ballot/vote by mail:

Electors may request a special ballot if they wish to vote by mail. Requests can be made until October 9, 2026, and completed packages must be returned by mail, and received by Elections Alberta’ in Edmonton, by 5:00pm on October 16, 2026. Electors are reminded to use their legal name when applying for a special ballot so their request can be processed.

Key special ballot information

Special ballots mailing begins

September 1, 2026

Deadline to request a special ballot

October 9, 2026

Completed special ballot packages must be received by mail at Elections Alberta

5:00 p.m. October 16, 2026

Tracking your special ballot progress

Special ballot packages include a standard paid return mailing envelope. You can track your request status and whether your special ballot vote has been received by Elections Alberta using the link provided to you when you requested your special ballot.

Electors who use an email address as the method of contact when applying for their special ballot will receive an email with a tracking link.

Electors who apply using their phone number as the method of contact should screenshot the closing image on their application to keep the link if they want to track their application’s progress.

Tracking will show if the request has been received, processed, or sent to the elector, and if the returned special ballot package has been received and voting register updated.

Importantly, if a special ballot vote does not reach Elections Alberta by mail by the deadline, electors can still vote in person on October 19. The voting register is updated to reflect when a special ballot is received to ensure electors cannot vote more than once.

Work as an election officer for the referendum

Elections Alberta is working towards recruiting 60,000 election officers to staff the upcoming October 19 referendum and has received over 35,000 applications to date. What is important now is ensuring all electoral divisions have sufficient election officers. More applications are required in the following electoral divisions:

West Yellowhead
Fort McMurray
Medicine Hat-Cypress Hills
Taber-Warner
Cardston-Siksika
Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock
All across Northern Alberta

We are still taking applications from interested Albertans across the province, and encourage anyone interested in being involved in this historic democratic event to consider applying.

Albertans can find available positions and how to apply at: https://www.elections.ab.ca/jobs/election-officer-recruitment/.

To apply, applicants must live in Alberta, be 16 years or older (some roles require 18 years or older), and be eligible to work in Canada.

Each Returning Officer manages hiring for their electoral division. Hiring activity is ramping up, and we ask applicants to be patient as Returning Officers process the applications and contact applicants. Elections Alberta cannot answer inquiries about the status of individual applications.

by Josh Hall