Elections Alberta is seeking more than 60,000 temporary workers for this fall’s provincewide referendum, a recruitment effort officials say will be the largest electoral hiring campaign in Alberta history and among the biggest referendum staffing drives ever conducted in Canada.The massive hiring push comes ahead of the Oct. 19 referendum, which will ask Albertans to vote on 10 separate ballot questions.To manage the unprecedented vote, Elections Alberta plans to print approximately 45 million ballots and complete an unofficial count within 48 hours of polls closing.“This referendum will be a colossal undertaking and requires Albertans to work together to deliver the upcoming referendum,” Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure said in a statement.“Working with us in the coming months provides a great opportunity for students, teams, community groups, and Albertans from all walks of life to get involved in the democratic process.”McClure said rural Albertans are particularly needed to help administer voting and ballot counting across the province.“I especially encourage rural Albertans to apply,” he said. “Delivering a referendum of this scale will require dedicated election workers in every corner of our province.”The scale of the referendum far exceeds previous Alberta elections..During the 2023 provincial election, Elections Alberta hired 13,095 temporary workers and administered approximately 1.8 million ballots. By comparison, officials expect to print 45 million ballots for the referendum.The agency currently operates with only 48 permanent staff outside election periods.Officials say recruiting more than 60,000 workers will be a significant logistical challenge. For comparison, Quebec’s 1995 sovereignty referendum required approximately 57,000 election workers to serve 4.8 million voters.Albertans aged 16 and older who are legally eligible to work in Canada can apply. Some positions require applicants to be at least 18 years old. All successful candidates must pass a criminal record check and agree not to participate in political activities during their employment.As an independent and non-partisan office of the legislature, Elections Alberta requires all election workers to swear an oath committing them to political neutrality.Available positions include site supervisors, information officers, voting officers, ballot box clerks, registration officers, record clerks, count supervisors, count coordinators and count officers.Paid training is scheduled for early October, with some positions beginning Oct. 13 ahead of advance voting..Voting operations will run during advance polls from Oct. 13 to 17 and on referendum day, Oct. 19. Ballot counting is expected to continue through Oct. 21.Applications are being accepted through Elections Alberta’s online recruitment portal. Officials said successful applicants will begin receiving notifications in mid-July and urged candidates to apply early due to the expected volume of applications.The Oct. 19 referendum is expected to be one of the largest democratic exercises ever conducted in Alberta, both in terms of ballot volume and the number of workers required to administer the vote.
