Elections Alberta notifies thousands of referendum voters about invalid mail-in ballot packs

Elections Alberta has verified nearly 221,000 completed mail-in ballots, representing roughly one-third of the 652,000 electors who have been sent voting packages ahead of the province’s Oct. 19 referendum. Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

Thousands of Albertans may not have their ballots counted for the province’s coming referendum after Elections Alberta said more than 3,000 voters failed to properly identify themselves in the mail-in voting process.

The provincial elections agency said it has reached out to those electors, most of whom incorrectly filled out the voter declaration form that must be submitted alongside their ballots, asking them to resubmit documentation over e-mail.

“If they provide the required information, by email, we can process their special ballot,” Maia Hanrahan, spokesperson for Elections Alberta, said in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail.

“If they do not, we cannot process their special ballot, and it will be rejected.”