High turnout caused referendum delays for some Indigenous voters: officials

Elections Alberta says it delivered additional ballots to several Indigenous communities after unexpectedly high turnout caused voting delays during Monday’s referendum.

Siksika First Nation was one of several communities affected Monday, Chief Samuel Crowfoot said. Voting was extended by more than 90 minutes due to high turnout.

He’s requesting a formal explanation of how Elections Alberta allocated polling staff, ballots and other resources.

“There are barriers when it comes to carrying out these civic functions in rural communities,” Crowfoot said.

“We want to investigate some of these delayed openings and excessive wait times … Being able to have faith in the system and how it is carried [out] is just as important as some of the issues being debated.”

Elections Alberta spokesperson Kevin Duncan told Global News Tuesday the agency relied on historical data for ballot distribution.

Some communities eventually required multiple ballot deliveries because turnout exceeded expectations, he added.

“We’re seeing this as a bit of a good news story. We’re seeing high voter turnout in these areas,” Duncan said.

In total, 106 polling stations across Alberta had to remain open later Monday after delays prevented them from opening on time, Duncan said. Most of the delays lasted 10 to 15 minutes, but some were longer. The last voting station closed at 10:41 p.m. MT.

“Some of the typical things that can occur are staffing issues. It’s the time of year where people get sick, unfortunately. We’ve experienced IT [and] internet connectivity [issues], and there’s an array of things that can pop up,” he said.

“We’re very impressed with how quickly the team was able to react.”

Duncan said more than 47,000 workers were on hand to help at the 1,400 polling stations across Alberta on Monday.

“As you can imagine, popping up 1,400 locations for a one-day event is no small task,” he said.

“[We’re] really grateful for the team that was able to do so, and really appreciative of those folks that did have to wait in line. We appreciate that patience.”

Unofficial results showed 10,607,881 responses had been recorded across the referendum’s 10 questions as of 8:30 a.m. MT Tuesday. Elections Alberta said 1,356,873 advance and special ballots were cast from Oct. 13 to Oct. 17.