Elections Alberta is sharing new voting information for those living in several electoral divisions, which have voting place locations impacted by wildfires.
It also says it is closely monitoring the impacts of wildfires and evacuations, but the Chief Electoral Officer is not currently seeking to discontinue the election in any electoral division.
The impacted divisions and changes announced thus far include:
- ED 49 Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock >> Advance voting in Swan Hills will not be offered until access to Swan Hills is restored. The closest advance voting locations for residents of Swan Hills and surrounding areas are:
- Barrhead Senior Drop In Centre, 5437 49 Street, Barrhead
- Allan & Jean Millar Centre, 58 Sunset Boulevard, Whitecourt
- ED 55 Central Peace-Notley >> Advance voting in Fox Creek will not be offered until access to Fox Creek is restored. The closest advance voting locations for residents of Fox Creek, Little Smoky and surrounding areas are:
- Allan & Jean Millar Centre, 58 Sunset Boulevard, Whitecourt
- Valleyview Memorial Centre, 4808 50 Street, Valleyview
- ED 58 Drayton Valley-Devon >> Advance Voting will be offered at Clean Energy Technology Centre (5400 22 Avenue, Drayton Valley) instead of the Omniplex-Mackenzie Conference Centre. Advance voting will be available from Tuesday – Saturday from 9 am – 8 pm.
- ED 70 Lesser Slave Lake
- ED 77 Peace River
All electors in these electoral divisions are encouraged to visit the Elections Alberta website at www.elections.ab.ca/wildfires to learn about further ongoing changes to voting places.
Changes are also reflected on Elections Alberta’s Where to Vote tool at https://map.elections.ab.ca.
Vote Anywhere in Advance
Between Tuesday, May 23rd and Saturday, May 27th advance voting will be offered in over 300 locations across Alberta. These locations offer the Vote Anywhere Service, meaning that any elector can vote at any location and receive the ballot for their electoral division.
Electors who are displaced are encouraged to locate their closest advance voting location at https://map.elections.ab.ca.
Two advance voting locations, Swan Hills and Fox Creek, are currently unavailable due to evacuation orders. Should the evacuation order be lifted, and it is safe to do so, advance voting will proceed in these communities. For alternate options nearby, visit https://map.elections.ab.ca.
Additional Voting Options for Evacuees and Firefighters
Returning Officers will be working with evacuation centres to offer mobile voting services to any evacuees, firefighters, or other emergency personnel that visit the facility. These locations will allow electors to still vote in the electoral division that they ordinarily reside. As details are finalized, dates, times and locations will be posted at www.elections.ab.ca/wildfires.
Any evacuee, firefighter, or other emergency personnel who is unable to access voting services is encouraged to contact our call centre at 1.877.422.8683 or info@elections.ab.ca for alternatives.
Elections Alberta will continue to monitor the situation and post information on the website and on social media should a Returning Office need to close due to an evacuation order or a voting place be impacted.
Elections Alberta is an independent, non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta responsible for administering provincial elections, by-elections, and referenda.
