VOLUME I 2019 GENERAL ELECTION A REPORT OF THE CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER www.elections.ab.ca www.elections.ab.ca elections.ab.ca March 2020 Suite 100 11510 Kingsway NW Edmonton, Alberta Canada T5G 2Y5 Mr. Joseph Schow, Chair Standing Committee on Legislative Offices Tel | 780.427.7191 th Fax | 780.422.2900 6 Floor, Federal Building 9820 – 107 Street [email protected] Edmonton, Alberta T5K 1E7 Dear Mr. Schow: I have the honour and privilege to submit the Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the 2019 Provincial General Election: Volume I in accordance with the provisions of section 4(5) of the Election Act. The Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the 2019 Provincial General Election will be presented in three volumes, as follows: • Volume I is comprised of information on conducting the election event, statistics, costs of the event and recommendations under the Election Act. • Volume II is comprised of the poll-by-poll results and polling subdivision maps from all 87 electoral divisions. • Volume III is comprised of information on the financial activities of political participants relating to the election event under the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act. This volume will be released in the summer of 2020. Should you require additional information or clarification on anything contained in the Report, I would be pleased to respond. Sincerely, Glen Resler, CPA, CMA Chief Electoral Officer TABLE OF CONTENTS MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER .............................................................................................. 1 1 EVENT OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................. 3 ELECTION CALL .................................................................................................................................................... 3 KEY DATES ........................................................................................................................................................... 4 SUMMARY STATISTICS ........................................................................................................................................ 5 2 EVENT PREPARATION ........................................................................................................ 7 BOUNDARY COMMISSION................................................................................................................................... 7 LEGISLATIVE AND PROCEDURAL CHANGES ......................................................................................................... 7 NEW INITIATIVES ................................................................................................................................................. 8 APPOINTMENT OF RETURNING OFFICERS .......................................................................................................... 9 RETURNING OFFICE RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING ......................................................................................... 12 3 VOTER REGISTRATION ..................................................................................................... 13 2018 PROVINCIAL ENUMERATION .................................................................................................................... 13 REVISION PERIOD .............................................................................................................................................. 13 REGISTRATION AT THE POLLS ........................................................................................................................... 13 POST-POLLING DAY LIST OF ELECTORS ............................................................................................................. 14 4 THE GENERAL ELECTION ................................................................................................... 19 VOTER ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH ............................................................................................................ 19 ESTABLISHING RETURNING OFFICES ................................................................................................................. 30 NOMINATED CANDIDATES ................................................................................................................................ 31 ELECTION OFFICER RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING .......................................................................................... 33 VOTING OPTIONS .............................................................................................................................................. 35 UNOFFICIAL COUNT .......................................................................................................................................... 39 OFFICIAL COUNT ................................................................................................................................................ 40 JUDICIAL RECOUNT ........................................................................................................................................... 41 5 OFFICIAL RESULTS ............................................................................................................ 43 MEMBERS ELECTED TO THE 30TH LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY ............................................................................... 43 CANDIDATE SUMMARY OF RESULTS ................................................................................................................. 47 SUMMARY OF RESULTS BY ELECTORAL DIVISION ............................................................................................. 48 6 FINANCE .......................................................................................................................... 65 OVERVIEW OF FEES ........................................................................................................................................... 65 TOTAL COST SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... 66 7 STATISTICS ....................................................................................................................... 75 COMPARATIVE STATISTICS ................................................................................................................................ 75 VOTER TRENDS AT ADVANCE POLLS ................................................................................................................. 82 VOTER SURVEY RESULTS ................................................................................................................................... 84 VOTER DEMOGRAPHICS .................................................................................................................................... 86 8 RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................... 99 FIXED DATE ELECTIONS ................................................................................................................................... 100 MANDATORY IDENTIFICATION ........................................................................................................................ 103 FLEXIBLE STAFFING PROVISIONS ..................................................................................................................... 104 ENABLE FLEXIBILITY FOR ADVANCE VOTING ................................................................................................... 106 ENABLE USE OF TECHNOLOGY ........................................................................................................................ 108 INCREASE ACCESSIBILITY OF SPECIAL BALLOT ................................................................................................ 109 IMPROVE COLLECTION, USE AND PROTECTION OF ELECTOR DATA ............................................................... 111 ESTABLISH A THRESHOLD FOR COMPLETING THE OFFICIAL COUNT .............................................................. 113 APPENDIX A: LINE-BY-LINE PROPOSED LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS ............................................................. 114 MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER The successful delivery of the 30th Provincial General Election was a result of the dedication of the staff at Elections Alberta, over 20,000 temporary election officers employed by my Office, and by our many vendors. Every person involved in this election worked to provide timely and efficient information and voting services to all participants. It was also incredibly rewarding to see the public interest and participation that occurred during this event. Full-scale preparation for the election could not commence until the 2018 Provincial Enumeration was completed in October of 2018. Staff undertook preliminary election preparations in parallel with the conduct of the provincial enumeration activities. The bulk of election preparatory work was condensed into four months. Yet, we recorded 67.5% voter participation, the highest since 1971. Contributing to this success was the increase in voting opportunities we were able to offer electors. Through the addition of an extra day of advance voting and the through the introduction of the vote anywhere option, the volume of electors choosing to vote by advance poll exceeded all estimates. The number of electors who chose to vote in advance tripled the turnout seen in 2015. Equally as encouraging was that