EDMONTON—For the first time in Alberta election history, voters can now cast their ballot anywhere in the province on advance polling days, expanding their voting options outside of their designated riding.

The changes were implemented under Bill 32, which amended the Elections Act “to strengthen and protect democracy in Alberta,” the bill reads. The inner workings behind the new voting option were unveiled to reporters at Elections Alberta headquarters in Edmonton on Tuesday.

Pamela Renwick, director of operations and communications at Elections Alberta, said that voting anywhere only applies to advance polls, and not on election day, where voters will still be required to cast their ballots in their designated ridings.

But she hopes this new feature will increase opportunities for Alberta voters to participate in this year’s election.

Those wishing to cast a ballot outside their jurisdiction can do so any day between April 9 and April 13. They will be asked to present either their voting card, which they would’ve received in the mail, or an Alberta identification card (such as a driver’s licence) — both of which have a barcode that will determine the voter’s riding. An elections officer will then print the appropriate ballot for that voter, Renwick said.

Polling stations will have two separate boxes on advanced polling days — one for local voters, and one for voters who are casting a ballot outside their jurisdiction.

All “vote anywhere” ballots across the province will be returned back to Elections Alberta’s warehouse in Edmonton, where the counting process will begin at 1 p.m. on April 17 — the day after the election.

Renwick said it may take until April 26 for all the “vote anywhere” ballots to be counted, which could mean a delay in official election results depending on volume, she said. The paper ballots will be counted automatically using a tabulator to increase efficiency.

“They’ve very good at reading quickly what electoral divisions the ballots are issued from … As well as review how these marks have been made so they can determine voter intent,” Renwick said of the tabulator machines, which were used to count votes in the Fort McMurray-Conklin 2018 byelection. Any ballots that the tabulator cannot read will be entered manually, Renwick said.

Renwick said she expects 30 per cent of voters to cast their ballot during advance polling days. Of those voters, 30 per cent — roughly nine per cent of all voters — are expected to cast their ballot outside their jurisdiction. There are around 2.7 million registered voters as of Tuesday, Renwick said.

Since writ drop on March 19, Renwick said the Elections Alberta website has seen the busiest traffic to date. March 25 has been the busiest day for the website, with over half a million hits and 9,000 new voter registrations. “It seems very busy right now,” Renwick said, who credits the increase in traffic to the fact that some elections services are now more easily accessible online than before.

While voters can preregister on the Elections Alberta website, Renwick reminds Albertans that they can also register at a polling station prior to casting their ballot.

Albertans head to the polls on April 16.

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Nadine Yousif is a reporter/photographer for Star Edmonton. Follow her on twitter: @nadineyousif_

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