Elections Alberta is allowing wildfire evacuees to vote by special ballot ahead of the May 29 election day.
Those who had to leave their homes due to wildfires can request to have a special ballot package mailed to them or vote at their local returning office or Elections Alberta office.
This option works for anyone who can put in a mailing address where they can safely retrieve the package or has a local returning office they can visit. Completed packages can be dropped off at a local returning office or returned by mail.
Elections Alberta said evacuees also have the option to vote in advance, and any Albertan can vote at any location in the province between May 23 and May 27.
If evacuees are still unable to return home by May 29, Elections Alberta will help find other polling locations depending on their location on election day.
This comes after fire officials estimated that around 29,000 Albertans have been affected by evacuation orders as of May 7.
On May 6, Smith announced that the government of Alberta had declared a provincial state of emergency “to protect the safety, health and well-being of Albertans.”
For more information on how to apply for a special ballot package, visit the Elections Alberta website.
On May 19, Elections Alberta provided an update on the wildfires’ impact on the voting process. The entity said some polling stations in the following ridings had been affected: Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock, Central Peace Notley, Drayton Valley-Devon, Lesser Slave Lake and Peace River.
For information on changes to voting places, Elections Alberta advised voters to go to their website, either the wildfire page or the elections map page.
“Returning officers continue to work with affected communities and the website will be updated with additional voting opportunities as arrangements are finalized,” the government office said, adding that returning officers would also work with evacuation centres to help firefighters and other emergency personnel with voting options, in addition to evacuees.
In its update, Elections Alberta also noted that evacuees hoping to cast ballots at advance voting locations should know that such locations in 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,” the update said.
“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.”
Duff Conacher, the co-founder of the non-profit Democracy Watch, told Global News making the process simple for evacuees and emergency personnel is key.
“A No. 1 reason that people say they don’t vote is they can’t figure out how to,” he said. “It has to be easy to register and figure out how and where to vote or you will reduce voter turnout.
“I think that people who want to vote will still find a way to vote in this situation.”
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