What Edmontonians need to know about ballot-box questions in the Oct. 18 election

The Oct. 18 municipal election will put a lot of questions in front of Edmonton voters.

At the ballot box, voters will be faced with choosing a mayor and 12 city councillors.

They'll also be able to vote for three of the the 13 candidates in the 2021 Alberta Senate elections.

And they'll be faced with two referendum questions, one on equalization, the other on daylight time.

Advance voting for the election began on Monday and will continue until Oct. 13.

CBC's Edmonton AM invited Pamela Renwick, acting deputy chief electoral officer for Elections Alberta, to explain what voters can expect when they hit the polls.

Here is what we learned:

Elections Alberta is involved in this year's municipal elections because the Senate election and referendum questions are provincial votes. Elections Alberta is providing support to municipalities to conduct these elections. 

Edmonton and a lot of the surrounding areas will use tabulator ballots, Renwick said.

Tabulators are equipment used to count polls. Electors will mark two paper ballots — one with the choices for mayor, councillor and school board trustee, and the other with Senate and referendum questions. 

"It is quicker than hand-counting the ballots," Renwick said.

Some municipalities will be given traditional ballots which are then hand-counted. Those will include multiple ballots.

"You'll have one for Senate, and one for referendum [questions], one for your school board, one for your councillors and so on. Depending on where you are, you may have two or more ballots," she said.

Senate elections

For the Senate election, Edmontonians and other Albertans will be selecting up to three individuals they would like the provincial government to put forward to the federal government if there is a vacancy relating to Alberta.

Thirteen candidates have been nominated and Renwick said to select up to three. "Don't go more than three," she said.

Referendum questions

Voters will see two referendum questions, one for equalization and another for daylight savings time. 

The equalization question reads: "Should section 36(2) of the Constitution Act,1982 — Parliament and the Government of Canada's commitment to the principle of making equalization payments — be removed from the Constitution?"

The daylight saving question reads: "Do you want Alberta to adopt year-round daylight saving time, which is summer hours, eliminating the need to change our clocks twice a year?"

Both questions can be answered with either "Yes" or "No."

Renwick said because equalization is a constitutional question, the province does not have jurisdiction to change it. 

A majority vote on equalization will indicate to the provincial government what action it needs to take.

If Albertans vote yes, the province would have to get into discussions with the federal government and other provinces and territories to change the Constitution in terms of removing equalization.   

If a majority of Albertans vote yes on the daylight saving question, the province would be forced to adopt daylight time year-round.

Renwick said any decision to change would not come into effect before the fall of 2022.

"Nov. 7 is the date we change our clocks, so this is coming too late to make any change for 2021," she said.

Edmontonians can access the city's website to find out where they can vote in advance polls and on Oct. 18.

More information on the provincial referendum questions is available here.

Information on the Senate election is available at Elections Alberta.