Thousands of Alberta mail-in referendum ballots at risk over ID and declaration errors as deadline nears

More than 3,000 Albertans voting by mail in the Oct. 19 referendum risk having their ballots rejected because of problems with the identification paperwork that must go with them, Elections Alberta says. Most of those voters filled out the required declaration form incorrectly, and the agency has contacted them asking that they resend documents by email, The Globe and Mail reported. “If they provide the required information, by email, we can process their special ballot,” spokesperson Maia Hanrahan told the newspaper. “If they do not, we cannot process their special ballot, and it will be rejected.”

Hanrahan said some voters put their birthdate on the signature line, did not sign the declaration or failed to complete the whole form, while others left out a copy of their ID or sent one with other problems. Under the agency’s rules, a mail-in package must include a copy of accepted identification and a signed declaration. Elections Alberta says it will try to reach anyone whose package is missing either document before rejecting a ballot, and that those whose ballots are rejected can still vote in person, according to its latest referendum update.

Time is short. Completed special ballot packages must reach Elections Alberta by mail no later than 5 p.m. on Oct. 16, and ballots that arrive later will not be counted, according to the agency’s special ballot page. Canada Post strongly recommends mailing packages by Oct. 9 to make the deadline. Voters whose package has not been marked received and voted by 5 p.m. on Oct. 18 stay on the voters list and can vote on referendum day. But anyone who votes at an advance poll, open Oct. 13 to 17, will have a mail ballot that arrives afterward rejected, because they are already marked as having voted.

The volume is unprecedented for the province. Elections Alberta processed just over 658,000 special ballot applications and approved more than 652,000, rejecting more than 5,700 for reasons including ineligibility, duplicate requests and invalid addresses. As of Oct. 1, more than 131,000 completed packages had been returned and validated. Hanrahan told the Globe the agency has now verified nearly 221,000, roughly one-third of the packages sent out, and CBC News reported that special ballots still pending number in the hundreds of thousands, with fewer than eight business days left before the deadline. Nearly one-fifth of Alberta voters chose to vote by mail, the first time they have had unrestricted access to it in a provincewide vote, the Globe said.

“If there’s anyone out there who hasn’t sent it yet, I would encourage them to send that as soon as possible,” Hanrahan told CBC Radio’s Calgary Eyeopener on Tuesday. Lori Williams, an associate professor of policy studies at Mount Royal University, warned that voters whose packages need more information could run up against the deadline. “Elections Canada would be hard-pressed to manage this process, nevermind Elections Alberta,” she told CBC.

The referendum asks 10 questions, all drafted by Premier Danielle Smith’s government, on provincial separation, immigration and constitutional issues. Elections Alberta has ordered 45 million ballots, more than twice the number cast nationwide in the 2025 federal election, the Globe reported. The agency has received more than 65,000 applications to work as election officers and confirmed more than 41,000, Hanrahan told CBC. Chief electoral officer Gordon McClure has said the vote will require 60,000 officers, more than the 57,000 recruited for the 1995 Quebec referendum. Several rural districts, including Taber-Warner, Lesser Slave Lake, Cardston-Siksika, Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray and West Yellowhead, still need workers, CBC said.

The declaration errors add to earlier problems with mail-in voting. Some of the first declaration forms sent to voters wrongly included a section asking them to attest that they were unable to vote in person, the Globe reported. Elections Alberta also found 313 packages that had been mailed without ballots; in a Sept. 18 update, it said its service provider had identified and resolved the production issue and that affected voters were sent replacement packages. In his annual report published in November 2025, McClure cited “systemic deficiencies” at the agency, including high staff turnover and insufficient resources, according to the Globe.

Mail-in voting has also split the campaigns. Federalist campaigns have embraced it, while the separatist camp is divided: pro-independence organizer Keith Wilson said it is critical that his supporters vote by mail, while prominent separatist leader Mitch Sylvestre said he has “no faith in the system at all,” the Globe reported.

Sources: The Globe and Mail; CBC News; Elections Alberta, special ballots; Elections Alberta referendum update (Oct. 1, 2026); Elections Alberta referendum update (Sept. 18, 2026).