CTV News Calgary and CTV News Edmonton have reported:

A total of 174,532 people voted on the first day of advance polling for Alberta’s separation referendum, Elections Alberta said. The voting took place Tuesday, ahead of the official referendum day on Oct. 19. The turnout exceeded the average of about 151,000 voters per advance voting day in previous provincial elections, including nearly 152,000 per day during the 2023 election.

Long lineups and waits affected some voting locations across the province as Albertans voted on 10 questions concerning separation, immigration and constitutional proposals. One question asks whether Alberta should hold a second, binding vote on separating from Canada. Elections Alberta has said it expects record turnout for the referendum introduced by Premier Danielle Smith.

Michelle Gurney, a spokesperson for Elections Alberta, said 17 voting locations stayed open from a few minutes to 43 minutes longer because of technical challenges at opening. “But then we did have an additional 20 vote locations that did stay open longer due to the lines,” she said. Some locations remained open until 11 p.m., three hours beyond the scheduled 8 p.m. closing time. Voters already in line at closing are still allowed to cast ballots, including on referendum day.

The extended hours followed reports of long lines at the scheduled closing time. Gurney said some locations stayed open late to accommodate voters, while the agency’s account also identified opening-related technical challenges at 17 sites.

Elections Alberta also clarified rules on clothing and accessories after voters reported being told to remove Canadian flag pins and a hat before voting. “For people who were coming into voting locations, the only thing that we’re mindful of is you cannot have clothing that would be considered referendum advertising, so you can’t have clothing, in the simplest terms, that tells people how to vote,” Gurney said. “A Canada pin or something like that. That’s perfectly acceptable. Or an Alberta pin. All of those things are acceptable in the polling location.”

About 658,000 special ballots were requested last month amid unprecedented interest in mail-in voting. Gurney said 418,000 had been mailed back so far; Elections Alberta said two-thirds of the roughly 658,000 requests had been returned. Special ballots can be returned by 5 p.m. Friday.

Advance voting continues daily through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Canadian Press report by Jack Farrell was first published Oct. 14, 2026.