Referendum vote count continues, some Calgary results far from tabulated

While overall referendum result trends are unmistakable, a good portion of the vote tabulating was still undone by late Monday morning, with some Calgary ridings mostly uncounted.

By 10 a.m., Elections Alberta reported that 83 per cent of voting areas had reported, or 4,650 of 5,583 polling stations.

“A Voting Area/Location is considered “reported” once at least one question for that Voting Area/Location has been submitted,” states the Elections Alberta website.

“A 100 per cent completion rate indicates that every Voting Area/Location has started, but does not necessarily mean every individual question for those Voting Area/Locations has been completed.”

By 10:30 a.m., in a few Calgary ridings less than 20 per cent of the polling stations had reported.

For instance, in Calgary-Acadia, only three of 57 polling stations had reported, while in Calgary-Varsity, that number was four of 51.

But in the lion’s share of ridings, most of polling stations had reported by late Monday morning.

Said Elections Alberta spokeswoman Michelle Gurney: “We’re not seeing any delays.”

The electoral agency said 11,144,530 ballots had been cast across the referendum’s 10 questions, which also touched on constitutional and immigration issues.

Some voters across the province complained of polling stations running out of ballots during Monday’s process. Officials at Siksika First Nation said that led to delays in the completion of voting.

Just after 11 p.m. Monday, Elections Alberta declared all polling stations — which were normally to accept votes until 8 p.m. — were closed and that ballots on the separation questions would be counted first.

“Unofficial results are to be reported within 48 hours of confirmed close of voting,” the agency said in an email.

Elections Alberta officials say the longer counting process is due to the unprecedented scope of the task involved in dealing with 10 separate ballots, volumes that also resulted in much longer-than-usual wait times at polling stations.

But the agency also said 106 polling stations across the province faced delayed openings due to staffing levels and poor internet connections.

Voter turnout on the advanced and special balloting was 43 per cent, said Elections Alberta.

– More to come

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