As Albertans head to advanced polls for the provincial referendum, Google searches inquiring about it have surged. According to Google Trends, searches on the Alberta referendum went up 80 per cent last Tuesday, with the top queries asking about the referendum’s 10 questions. One of the highest rising queries on Google Trends was “understanding Alberta referendum voting questions.” Four of the questions are on immigration policies with five on constitutional matters. The final question is non-binding and asks Albertans if the province should remain in Canada, or if a second binding referendum be held on separating. All of the questions other than the one on separation are yes or no. Question 10 poses two options: Alberta should remain a province in Canada, or, the Government of Alberta should commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada. Academics have encouraged Albertans to read the questions before heading to the polls, saying the wording of the questions is convoluted. A top Google query asked “Alberta referendum reading level complexity.” Additional Google queries pertained to voting and advanced voting. Voters are required to prove their identity and current address at the polls by providing one piece of government-issued photo ID that includes your full name and current address, or, two pieces of ID both with your full name and one with your current address, or, have an authorized signatory complete an attestation form. A full list of accepted identification can be found online. If you are not registered to vote, you will be directed to a registration station where an elections officer will look at your identification and prepare a declaration for signing. You will then be issued the ballot package. More than 600,000 mail-in ballots were sent out to eligible Albertans by request and nearly 175,000 people cast their ballots on the first day of advanced polls Tuesday. Tuesday’s voter turnout was higher than the daily average of nearly 152,000 people seen at the advanced polls in the 2023 provincial election.
