Edmonton Journal has reported:

Advance voting for Alberta’s 10-question referendum began Tuesday, drawing long lines at some Edmonton-area polling places and shorter waits at others. At Grace Lutheran Church, a queue of at least 50 people stretched down 114 Street on Tuesday morning as voters waited to cast their ballots. Leaves crumpled underfoot in shifting feet, the temperature hovered around 7 C, and one voter passed the time swinging a bright pink yo-yo.

Every few minutes, someone leaving the church gave the waiting crowd an estimate of the process. “An hour and a half!” one man wearing a leather jacket called out as he exited. He later told Postmedia that voting had been “long” and “cumbersome.”

Michael Evans, the man with the yo-yo, said he was not concerned about the wait. “Glad that there’s long lineups,” he said. “I’d be more concerned if there was no lineup.” Tuesday was the first day voters could cast ballots in person for the referendum.

Elections Alberta expected turnout to reach between 80 per cent and 85 per cent. The agency had received more than 650,000 requests for mail-in ballots, equivalent to 20 per cent of registered voters in the province. Mail-in voting had closed by Tuesday, while other voters had until Saturday to cast an advance ballot ahead of referendum day, which was scheduled for the following Monday and expected to draw large crowds.

Most voting locations were open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Elections Alberta said 17 locations, including two in Edmonton, opened late Tuesday and would remain open longer to make up for the lost time. Waits varied by polling place and time of day: Grace Lutheran was busy in the morning, but activity had eased by 3 p.m.

At the Holiday Inn Express in St. Albert, the queue reached about 100 people at one point. Some seniors took seats in the lobby as waits approached two hours. Riverbend United Church also had a long line shortly after 10 a.m., extending outside, where many voters wore winter clothing against the autumn chill.

At Terwillegar Community Church, the line likewise reached the entrance, though it wound inside the building. Ridgewood Community League in southeast Edmonton had a queue spilling into the street, but voting inside was busy and some people completed the process in less than 10 minutes.

The experience was quicker at the Beaufort Building in central Edmonton. One voter there described it as “easy breezy,” and people took about 10 to 20 minutes to finish. Around 11 a.m., waits at Grace Lutheran had eased enough that poll workers began directing people to the shorter line at Beaufort, a short drive away.

Queen Mary Park neighbours Doris Tollifson and Yolanda Crooy said voting at Beaufort had gone quickly, but they could understand why queues would grow elsewhere. Tollifson objected to the number of ballots and the wording of the questions. “It’s absolutely ridiculous that there are 10 pieces of paper,” she said. “Put all the questions in simple English on one form, as they do for your average election.”

Tollifson said election workers had to fold each of the 10 ballots individually, adding to the time needed to process voters. She and Crooy also considered the questions wordy and difficult to understand. Both said they were concerned that new Canadians might struggle with the questions and the voting process.

Another Beaufort voter, Mladen Dundur, said he completed voting in about five minutes. Asked about the referendum overall, he called it “Stupid,” adding, “Wasting money, tax money.” Dundur, who is originally from Croatia, recalled the country’s separation from Yugoslavia and said it led to major problems.

He said the conflict and fallout following the split eventually prompted him to move to Canada. “You are persona non grata just because you are a different nationality. Nothing else,” he said. Dundur is now a Canadian citizen and said he has experienced enough separatism in his lifetime.

The Edmonton Journal report included files from Jackie Carmichael, Trevor Robb and Nicole Bergot. It also pointed readers to related coverage of former Alberta premier Jason Kenney and former premier Rachel Notley making a case for Canadian unity ahead of the referendum, as well as a preview of advance voting and anticipated lineups. The report was by Liam Newbigging, who listed the email lnewbigging@postmedia.com, the Bluesky handle @liamnewbigging.bsky.social and the X address x.com/nubigin.

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