EDMONTON — Elections Alberta has requested an additional $59 million in taxpayer spending, with $49.6 million needed to cover remaining costs from Alberta's October referendum, bringing the event's new estimated total to $84 million.Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure presented the request to the Legislative Offices Committee on Thursday, saying the funds are needed to cover referendum expenses Elections Alberta has already incurred, including $26.2 million to pay counting staff.The large number of counting figures reflects the nature of the referendum, which saw 22.1 million votes cast across the 10 questions, with one ballot per question."Ten ballots multiplies the handling, counting, and logistics factor by 10, virtually at every stage from special ballot processing to the movement of ballots, ballot boxes, materials in every corner of the province," said McClure."In practical terms, the 10 ballots produced more than 22 million votes, all of which were required to be counted by hand.".Other costs included $6.9 million for facilities, $6.3 million for moving ballots and materials, $5.6 million for special ballot staffing and counting, $2.3 million for security and vehicles, and $2.2 million for technology and equipment.Officials emphasized that the financial costs do not include the human capital required to run the referendum."For a lot of our folks, the referendum was crushing," said Elections Alberta Chief Administrative Officer Steve Kaye."I myself worked a 22-hour shift. That was my longest shift. Everybody here at this table worked probably at least 16- to 20-hour days, but that comes with the territory. So we're not here complaining. It was just a product of who we had to get the work done.".Elections Alberta said it is the leanest-staffed electoral office in Canada, which is part of why it requested an additional $993,742 to hire 23 new full-time employees."We have had our foot on the gas for a long time," Kaye said."People are tired, and we have some concerns going forward about being able to hire some of the people that have worked for us in the past, simply because we ran a marathon and included a triathlon and then an across-the-English-Channel swimming event."The remaining $9 million was requested to allow Elections Alberta to begin preparing for Alberta's 2027 election. These costs include finding and training returning officers and preparing election materials.The Legislative Offices Committee unanimously approved Elections Alberta's funding request..Questions from MLAs on the committee addressed Alberta's upcoming electoral boundary changes, which are expected to pass in the legislature during the fall sitting.MLAs asked whether Elections Alberta could be prepared for Alberta's October 2027 general election. Officials said the process takes time, regardless of whether Elections Alberta hires additional staff, but added that if the boundaries pass during the fall sitting, Elections Alberta will be ready for the election.The Alberta NDP have signalled their intention to legally challenge the UCP's proposed boundaries, if passed, over allegations that the government is attempting to rig the election. Such a challenge could cause delays, and Elections Alberta warned that there will eventually come a point when the turnaround time is too short.
