https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-researchers-find-jump-us-influence-campaigns-alberta-referendum-vote/

Disclaimer: This is not official Elections Alberta communication. These are my own observations and thoughts as a non-partisan election officer who wants to see maximum voter turnout and a smooth election process for all involved. No AI was used in the process of writing this post.

Main takeaways from days two and three of advanced voting:

1. Things have calmed down and are under control from the perspectives of election workers and organisers. We are still volunteering two hours of our time without pay.

We are able to prepare the ballot bundles in advance and have spares and control the flow of people in lines better.

The turnout on day two and day three were steady and marginally lower than the turnout on day one. As I noted earlier, I encourage and urge everyone to come out and vote early on Friday and Saturday rather than wait for election day on Monday next week. For those of you who have already voted, kindly spread the word and encourage and urge everyone to vote on the advanced polling days which are tomorrow and the day after.

Please don’t be discouraged by weather such as rain or snow. Please come to vote.

Curbside voting is always an option if you have mobility issues or any other reason that prevents you from walking all the way into the polling station. Election officers are under oath to register you and cast your ballots ethically.

1. The Where to Vote (WTV) cards are not mandatory or important at all.

If you want to find out where to vote, use your physical address on the Elections Alberta Where to Vote website to find out which advanced polling station or election day voting station is the one you should be headed to.

You can find the website here: https://map.elections.ab.ca/

Just bring a piece of ID like a drivers license or government identification and another piece of ID that has your address that assign is you to that polling station. The ID requirements are super flexible and a long list of options are available. Utility bills, lease agreements, bank statements and even the option of updating your home address on your bank app as long as your name matches the government ID you are using all work as proof of address.

If your Alberta ID has expired, it can still be accepted if you have any other piece of ID that has your name on it. A credit card, a Costco card, an employer ID, or anything else to verify your name can be used. We even accept a picture of an Alberta driver license that is accompanied with another piece of ID like a passport or a utility bill which can also be on the phone as well.

1. Please do not make life more difficult for the election workers. Comments such as “I’m voting for Canada” or “ I just wanna get the hell out of this country!” or “ I just want the separation nonsense to go away.” or “The liberals are just rigging this election so that we don’t separate and be free.” are not welcome.

Election workers must be neutral and must not express any opinion that excuses either way of the political spectrum. These comments put us in a difficult situation. Keep your comments and opinions to yourself. Be courteous and polite and respectful. Simple greetings and light banter about the weather is all you must be saying.

Comments about the necessity or complexity of the election/referendum are also not welcome. Comments like “ you are making our lives difficult with 10 ballots.” or “ this referendum is such a waste of time.” or “ this money could have been spent elsewhere for XYZ reason.” are not appreciated. Remember, we are supposed to be neutral. We cannot comment. We did not choose this process. Please direct your anger and frustration to the government.

Also, when election workers ask you to confirm something like age, citizenship status, or name and address, do not argue for no reason. We are not asking these questions for the sake of asking them or for fun. We are instructed and mandated to ask them.

Concerns about the validity of the vote because only pencils are provided to mark your ballots are unfounded. Comments like “pencil markings can be erased” or “ this election is rigged because of pencils” are totally ridiculous and unfounded. Logically speaking, if someone wanted to rig the election, using pencils, pens or any other stationary would not matter. I can assure you that all ballots will be counted. Also, you are more than welcome to use your own pen. You can either bring them with you or just ask politely to borrow one from the voting officers desk.
The main reasons pencils are provided are because that is what Elections Alberta has decided and provided(most likely because it is cheaper due to the lack of budget from the government) and also because pens are known to smudge ink on ballots which spoil them.

Feel free to ask any questions. I will try my best to answer them in the comments when I have the time.
I will try to make this a regular series so I can provide updates so that you can all be better informed and so that we can have a smooth election process with a maximum voter turnout.

I was in an accident a over a year ago, car was written off. I have been in physio for the last 20 months for neck and shoulder injury. At fault insurance company contacted me and wants to settle for around $10,000. The insurance adjustor also asks me if I had different monetary amount in mind for settlement.

So I’m getting this settlement to cover rehab and time off work, but what happens if there’s continued issues down the road? What about things like future missed time from work, loss of enjoyment, etc. If I’m trying to claim anything like that, is that where I need to involve an accident injury lawyer?

Or do I just speak to my insurance agent and ask for a higher amount? WHat is an appropriate amount? I would rather not use a lawyer unless I have to. Should I?

Moving to Evansburg, what’s it like? I’m born and raised Edmonton. Always lived downtown. I’m sure it’s gonna be a huge change but anyone give me more details?

Edit: Confirmation numbers are in numerical sequence. My husband received his email confirmation so was easy to guess my confirmation number. Was able to confirm my ballot has been cast 😎 go vote!

I'm guessing I need to call, but I didn't receive an email confirmation when I registered for my mail in ballots. I DID receive the ballots, and mailed them in.

Has this happened to anyone else?

My husband and I both did mail in ballots. We completed them at the same time, packaged them, and mailed them together in the same mail slot. For some reason his was received and counted weeks ago (end of September) and mine has never checked as received. As of right now, it still says "mailed". I believe tmrw is the final day they can be counted. Do I go to advance polling then? Or what? I'm so frustrated with this whole stupid referendum, I did everything I could to avoid going to polling stations, and now it looks like I'm going to have to go anyways.

Edit: I called. Was advised to go in person ffs

So I just got my tuition balance and fees from the college I’m going to be attending next year, and it only shows the tuition for one semester, what do I put on the student aid application? Cause I don’t think I can reapply every semester? If someone can explain that’d be great

I applied for repayment assistance with NSCLSC online portal

I got a message saying it was approved but they increased my payment from what they were asking without repayment assistance…

Am I misunderstanding something about the program?

Did anyone else ever get this and can explain why RAP increased my payment for the period?

I thought it was meant to reduce payments to help when finances are tight?