More than 610,000 Albertans had requested mail-in ballots for the province’s Oct. 19 referendum as of Tuesday, and the deadline to apply is midnight Friday, Sept. 25. Elections Alberta says ballots must be returned by Oct. 16 at 5 p.m. to be counted. The agency moved up the application deadline after demand surged, setting it two weeks earlier than the Oct. 9 date originally planned and advertised.

The latest total is about 90,000 higher than Friday’s figure and more than 10 times the nearly 60,000 mail-in ballots requested for the 2023 provincial general election. More than half a million people had already signed up before the updated count was reported. Elections Alberta expects a record turnout for the vote, which includes a question about whether Alberta should remain in Canada or proceed to a second, binding referendum on separation.

The application deadline was changed to give the agency time to print, sort and mail the ballots, receive them back and count them. Elections Alberta also wants to avoid delivery complications around the Thanksgiving long weekend. It expects a final rush of applications and did not want that peak to fall just before Oct. 12, when there is no mail service.

Dallas Stoesz, Elections Alberta’s deputy chief electoral officer, said the adjusted schedule and the work required to handle the volume reflected the historic scale of the 10-question vote. Elections Alberta has said administering the referendum will require at least 60,000 workers. It has hired more than 28,000 people and received almost 52,000 applications, according to the agency.

Voters do not have to give a reason to vote by mail. The ballot package requires a printed photocopy of government-issued identification showing proof of Alberta residence. A statement included on some forms says electors must declare that they cannot vote during advance voting, scheduled for Oct. 13 to 17, or on referendum day, Oct. 19, or face a fine. Elections Alberta has clarified that the wording came from an earlier version of the Election Act and can be disregarded if it appears in a voter’s package.

Some voters may need an attestation form, a document authorized by the Chief Electoral Officer that can serve as identification in specified circumstances. This applies to people living in supportive living or long-term care facilities, on a colony, in student housing on an Alberta campus, or on a First Nation or Métis Settlement. The form may also be used by inmates, people receiving services from a shelter or community support centre, and electors who are renting out their ordinary residence.

The special ballots are attached to one another like pages in a notepad, glued along the top and backed with cardboard. Elections Alberta urges voters who receive an incomplete package to contact the agency immediately so it can correct the problem before the return deadline. Ballots arriving after Oct. 16 at 5 p.m. will not be counted.

The referendum was announced on Feb. 19 with nine government-initiated questions concerning immigration and constitutional reform. Premier Danielle Smith announced on May 21 that a 10th question would be added, putting the question of Alberta separatism to voters. The wording asks: “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada? Or should the government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”

Although the ballot addresses 10 issues, public and political attention has centred on that final question. Provincial law requires ballots to be counted by hand, so unofficial results on separation are not expected before after midnight on Oct. 20 at the earliest. The vote will determine whether Alberta remains a province of Canada or whether the government proceeds to the legal process for a second, binding referendum on leaving Confederation.

Those who miss Friday’s mail ballot application deadline can vote in person during advance polling. Elections Alberta plans to operate 310 polling stations from Oct. 13 to 17. The agency’s schedule for mailing ballots is intended to allow enough time for them to be printed, sent out, returned by the Oct. 16 cutoff and counted ahead of the referendum results.

Based on reporting by Global News Edmonton.