It’s referendum day in Alberta. Here’s what you need to know

Albertans will cast their ballots in a historic referendum Monday, weighing in on 10 questions about the future of the province. 

Already, Elections Alberta says 1.3 million people across the province have voted either by special ballot or in advance polls. 

The referendum features 10 questions. Questions one through nine centre around immigration and the Constitution. 

Question 10 asks if voters support Alberta remaining a province of Canada, or if they support the provincial government beginning the process of holding a second, binding referendum on separation. 

If you are voting on referendum day, here is what you need to know. 

Polls are open across the province from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Unlike in advance voting, on referendum day voters are required to vote at their designated polling station. If you’re not sure where that is, you can enter your address on Elections Alberta’s website to find it. 

Voters must be over 18, and a resident of Alberta. 

To vote, bring a piece of government-issued photo ID with your address on it, like a driver’s licence, or two pieces of ID including at least one with an address. An attestation form from an authorized signatory will also be accepted. 

While polling stations are set to close at 8 p.m., if voters are in line before 8 p.m., they will still be allowed to cast their ballots. 

“The location will stay open until everyone in that line has had the opportunity to vote,” said Elections Alberta spokesperson Maia Hanrahan. 

Elections Alberta received requests for more than 600,000 special ballots, and encouraged Albertans to post them in by Oct. 9 in order to meet the Oct. 16 deadline. 

If your mail-in ballot was not received by the deadline, or if you applied for a special ballot but never mailed it in, you can still vote on referendum day. 

After marking their ballots, voters place each of their 10 ballots in its corresponding box. (Janet French/CBC)

“I’d encourage [voters] to first have a look at that link that they received when they applied for that special ballot. They will be able to see there if it’s marked as received and that they’ve cast their ballots,” said Hanrahan.

“If they’re not marked as received, they can go and attend in person to vote.”

No, says Hanrahan. Voters can vote on all 10 questions, just one, or however many of the 10 questions they would like. She suggests voters familiarize themselves with the questions to speed up the process. 

Each referendum question is on a separate, colour-coded ballot. After marking an X on their ballots, voters fold them and place each one in its corresponding box. The ballot will be counted no matter how it is folded, Hanrahan said.

Voters can also request a replacement ballot at the station if they mark an option they don’t want, or if they accidentally tear or rip a ballot. 

“People can wear what they’d like to the voting locations. The only rule there is that they can’t be wearing something that would be classified as referendum advertising,” said Hanrahan.

That means wearing an Alberta flag baseball cap or a T-shirt with the Maple Leaf is fine, but wearing a campaign slogan, or a message on how to vote on any of the questions, would not be. 

Election officers will count the ballots by hand and the count must be completed within 48 hours under provincial rules.

Question 10, the ballot related to separation, will be counted first. Then counters will deal with the other questions in order, starting with the first question. 

Hanrahan says workers will not wait for all polling stations to finish their count of the 10th ballot before moving on, meaning results may start coming in for the other nine questions before the 10th question has been declared. 

Where to stream CBC’s Alberta referendum coverage

For live results and analysis on referendum night, watch Alberta Votes: Referendum Night starting at 7 p.m. MT on CBC TV in both Calgary and Edmonton, CBC Gem, CBC News YouTube, CBC News App, CBC News Network and listen live on CBC Radio One. 

Referendum results will also be covered live on the CBC Edmonton and CBC Calgary websites.

Then, tune into Alberta Morning on Oct. 20 starting at 5:30 a.m. MT on CBC Radio One and CBC TV in both Calgary and Edmonton.