Advance voting in Premier Danielle Smith’s needless and divisive separation referendum begins at 9 o’clock this morning.
If Elections Alberta’s prediction that 80 to 85 per cent of the provincial electorate is likely to turn out to vote this year, there will be lineups at in-person advance polls and on Election Day on October 19. They may be long and slow.
After all, it will take a while for many voters who haven’t been engaged by this ridiculous process until recently to read the nine complicated and intentionally confusing additional questions drafted by the big brains of the United Conservative Party (UCP), which in several cases are the same as the big brains behind the separatist Free Alberta Strategy.
The simplest and most effective way to do your best for Alberta and Canada, as well as the people in line behind you, is to vote Option 1 on Ballot 10 (“Alberta should remain a province of Canada”) and NO to the other nine.
In-person advance voting in the referendum will take place today, tomorrow, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Elections Alberta says you can vote at any advance voting place within your electoral division.
On Election Day – Monday, October 19 – you must vote at the voting place identified for your physical address. If you haven’t received anything in the mail, there’s a tool on Elections Alberta’s website that can show you where to vote.
The weather forecast from Environment Canada indicates sunshine through much of the province today and most of the rest of the week, but it’ll be chilly, especially in the morning, so bring a coat and wear warm shoes. If you simply must wear sandals, for heaven’s sake wear socks as well, no matter what the self-appointed fashion police may have told you.
If it gets late, stay in line. Elections Alberta promises you will be allowed to vote.
You will need to bring identification and Alberta government-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards are the simplest. A complete list of ID that elections officials will accept, however, is found here.
If you’re not registered to vote, you can ask to sign a declaration that you are eligible to cast a ballot.
Recent social media activity by secessionist groups and their leaders suggests they are already trying to build a “stop the steal” narrative, à la The Donald, in anticipation of losing the vote. Obviously, the best way to eliminate months of fallout from the repurposed Convoy crowd is to deliver them a thumping defeat at the ballot box.
This is especially so since we can have no confidence that Premier Danielle Smith will deliver on her recent promise that if the “Remain” side wins, there will be no more separation referenda on her watch. Even if she keeps her promise, there is no guarantee that the separatists who now dominate her party and call her tune will not replace her with someone more willing to keep on pushing their schemes. So vote!
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