REGINA, Sask. — Those who expected fast Alberta referendum results tonight at 8 p.m. are in for disappointment.
Elections Alberta has confirmed on their website that the results website cannot be published until all voting locations in the province are confirmed closed. They report that with delays earlier in the day the earliest the last voting location will close is 10 p.m. tonight.
Their website also reports that several voting locations are going to be open extended hours to reflect late openings in the morning. A poll in Edmonton-Glenora will remain open until 10 p.m. tonight. A poll in Edmonton – South West will remain open until 9:20 p.m., while a number of other polls in Edmonton-Glenora, Drumheller-Stettler, Morinville-St. Albert and Peace River will remain open to 9 p.m.
A number of other polls also will remain open past 8 p.m. in communities including Calgary, Lethbridge, Red Deer, Fort McMurray – Wood Buffalo, Airdrie, Sherwood Park, and several more. It was also confirmed by Elections Alberta that voting locations in Wainwright would open as planned on Oct. 19.
Elections Alberta adds that unofficial results will begin to be released once the reporting site goes live after all voting locations are confirmed closed.
As for the vote count itself, Elections Alberta states that Question 10 – the question on whether Alberta should stay in Canada or proceed to hold a referendum on independence – will be counted first, followed by Questions 1 through 9 in that order.
There are roughly 3.1 million eligible voters in the Alberta referendum. According to Elections Alberta there have been 1,356,873 advance votes and special ballots cast, for a percentage of 43.1 per cent of those votes being cast.
