Politics
High turnout caused referendum delays for some Indigenous voters: officials
Elections Alberta says it delivered additional ballots to several Indigenous communities after unexpectedly high turnout caused voting delays during Monday’s referendum.
Siksika First Nation was one of several communities affected Monday, Chief Samuel Crowfoot said. Voting was extended by more than 90 minutes due to high turnout.
He’s requesting a formal explanation of how Elections Alberta allocated polling staff, ballots and other resources.
“There are barriers when it comes to carrying out these civic functions in rural communities,” Crowfoot said.
Elections Alberta spokesperson Kevin Duncan told Global News Tuesday the agency relied on historical data for ballot distribution.
Some communities eventually required multiple ballot deliveries because turnout exceeded expectations, he added.
Get daily National news
“We’re seeing this as a bit of a good news story. We’re seeing high voter turnout in these areas,” Duncan said.
In total, 106 polling stations across Alberta had to remain open later Monday after delays prevented them from opening on time, Duncan said. Most of the delays lasted 10 to 15 minutes, but some were longer. The last voting station closed at 10:41 p.m. MT.
- Is Canada in an ‘affordability crisis’? Conservative motion heads to a vote
- Alberta referendum vote to remain is ‘great result for Canada,’ Carney says
- Albertans mixed on other referendum questions after rejecting separation
- UCP MLA who backed Alberta separatist petition not seeking re-election
“We’re very impressed with how quickly the team was able to react.”
Duncan said more than 47,000 workers were on hand to help at the 1,400 polling stations across Alberta on Monday.
“As you can imagine, popping up 1,400 locations for a one-day event is no small task,” he said.
Unofficial results showed 10,607,881 responses had been recorded across the referendum’s 10 questions as of 8:30 a.m. MT Tuesday. Elections Alberta said 1,356,873 advance and special ballots were cast from Oct. 13 to Oct. 17.
Stick to the Facts
Add Global News as a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our stories in your search results.
Journalistic standards
Comment
Report an error
Sponsored content