Elections Alberta has notified over 3,000 voters that their mail-in ballots for the upcoming October 19 referendum may not be counted due to improperly filled out voter declaration forms or missing identification documents. The agency is urging these voters to resubmit correct documentation via email by October 9 to ensure their votes are processed. This issue highlights ongoing challenges with the large-scale mail-in voting process, which Elections Alberta describes as one of the biggest electoral events in Canadian history, involving nearly 45 million ballots and over 60,000 election workers.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Thousands of Albertans may not have their ballots counted for the province’s coming referendum after Elections Alberta said more than 3,000 voters failed to properly identify themselves in the mail-in voting process.
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voters → have → process
The provincial elections agency said it has reached out to those electors, most of whom incorrectly filled out the voter declaration form that must be submitted alongside their ballots, asking them to resubmit documentation over e-mail.
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that → say → mail
“If they provide the required information, by email, we can process their special ballot,” Maia Hanrahan, spokesperson for Elections Alberta, said in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail.
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Hanrahan → provide → Globe
“If they do not, we cannot process their special ballot, and it will be rejected.
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it → do → ballot
The agency has been working to assuage concerns about election integrity in the home stretch of the referendum campaign.
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agency → work → campaign
Elections Alberta has verified nearly 221,000 completed mail-in ballots, Ms. Hanrahan said, representing roughly one-third of the 652,000 electors who have been sent voting packages ahead of the province’s Oct. 19 referendum.
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who → verify → referendum
The errors add to a list of problems that have plagued the mail-in voting process, just one component of a referendum that Elections Alberta says is one of the biggest electoral events in Canadian history.
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Alberta → add → history
The referendum centres around 10 questions – all designed by Premier Danielle Smith’s government – asking voters to weigh in on provincial separation, immigration and constitutional issues.
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referendum → centre → separation
The sweeping vote has forced Elections Alberta to order 45 million ballots for the 10 separate questions, more than twice the number of ballots cast nationwide in the 2025 federal election.
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vote → force → election
It has also hired more than 41,000 election workers and received roughly 65,000 applications, Ms. Hanrahan said on Tuesday.
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Hanrahan → hire → Tuesday
The agency is hoping to hire an unprecedented 60,000-plus election workers – more than four times the number who helped in Alberta’s 2023 provincial general election.
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who → hop → election
Nearly one-fifth of Alberta voters, meanwhile, have seized the opportunity to vote by mail, the first time Albertans have had unrestricted access to the process for a provincewide election.
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Albertans → seize → election
The agency is asking voters to mail their ballots by Oct. 9 to ensure their votes are counted.
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votes → ask → Oct.
In order to vote by mail, Alberta requires electors to request a special ballot package and return the ballots along with a copy of their valid identification, and a declaration form containing their personal information and signature.
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Alberta → vote → information
Ms. Hanrahan wrote that some voters filled out their declaration incorrectly by putting their birthdate in the signature line, not signing the declaration, or failing to fill out the entire form.
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voters → write → form
She added that other voters either neglected to send a copy of their ID or there were other issues with the document.
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voters → add → document
Elections Alberta is asking those voters to rectify those issues by e-mailing the agency a new declaration form or copy of their ID.
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Alberta → ask → ID
“Without these two pieces of information, we are unable to verify and count their submitted special ballot, and it would be rejected,” she wrote.
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she → verify → ballot
The agency has been proactively responding on social media to voters who were notified that they need to send in more documentation.
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they → respond → documentation
Elections Alberta has been forced to address a crop of issues in the lead up to the referendum.
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Alberta → force → referendum
Some of the first declaration forms sent to electors, for example, incorrectly included a section asking voters to testify that they’re unable to vote in person.
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they → send → person
Alberta voters were previously prohibited from voting by mail unless they could prove they were unable to.
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they → prohibit → mail
Elections Alberta also found 313 mail-in packages sent to electors that were missing ballots.
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that → find → ballots
Some observers have pointed to repeated warnings from Elections Alberta – an arm’s-length government agency – that it is underfunded and understaffed.
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it → point → Alberta
In its annual report, published in November, 2025, chief electoral officer Gordon McClure referenced “systemic deficiencies” at the agency, including high staff turnover, insufficient resources and a “lack of backup in critical positions and areas.”
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McClure → publish → positions
That report was published roughly three months before Ms. Smith unveiled her plans for the October referendum.
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Smith → publish → referendum
In May, Mr. McClure told a legislative committee that he’s “drinking from a firehose.”
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he → tell → firehose
Federalist campaigns have embraced mail-in voting, while separatist camps have been split over the system.
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camps → embrace → system
Last month, lawyer and pro-independence organizer Keith Wilson said it’s critical his supporters vote at the mailbox.
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supporters → say → mailbox
Prominent separatist leader Mitch Sylvestre, meanwhile, said he has “no faith in the system at all.”
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he → say → system
The Aporia
