Elections Alberta says it’s received 658,000 referendum mail-in ballot applications
Posted September 28, 2026 10:16 am.
Elections Alberta says it received approximately 658,000 requests for special mail-in ballots for next month’s referendum.
The elections authority says that’s 11 times more requests than the 59,589 special ballot applications for the 2023 provincial election.
The deadline to apply for a special mail-in ballot was three days ago, on Friday at midnight. The exact number of mail-in ballot applications received will be finalized as the final requests are entered into the system, the authority says.
Elections Alberta says it’s already gotten back nearly 100,000 ballots, with those electors now marked as having voted. All remaining ballots need to be returned by Oct. 16 at 5 p.m. to be counted.
The agency is expecting a record voter turnout for the Oct. 19 referendum, which will see Albertans decide whether they want to remain in Canada or hold a second, binding referendum on separating from the country.
The vote is a massive undertaking for Elections Alberta. It says it has hired more than 34,000 people and received almost 59,000 applications, calling it a “fantastic turnout.”
More election officers are needed in some rural regions of northern and southern Alberta such as Peace River, Fort McMurray and Rocky Mountain House.
–With files from The Canadian Press
