Elections Alberta was still counting the final ballots in the referendum on the weekend, saying it encountered delays in receiving results from some voting locations. The premier says she’s not ready to allow tabulators for a faster count. Election Alberta missed the 48-hour deadline to post all voting numbers after polls closed Monday night. On her weekend radio show, the premier said she wants to know more about why several polls stayed open until almost 11 p.m. and why some polls did not report in until several days later. “I would just say let’s not presume that the issue was tabulators,” she said. “Let’s just do a look and see if there’s other things that could have been done to to make people have more confidence in the outcome. And so let’s -- but we’ve got a little bit of review to do on that. I’d like to have Elections Alberta have an opportunity to address the independent committee.” ‘Delays not a result of insufficient counting staff’ Elections Alberta said Saturday in an update that “specific and exceptional challenges” have delayed reporting ballot totals in a number of areas due to “procedural errors made in voting places on Election Day.” The provincial agency said “all voting places that followed correct procedures were able to report their unofficial results within the 48-hour legislated timeframe. All voting places have been able to report some unofficial results.” Smith said results from the recent Quebec elections were released much faster than Alberta’s, and that province also hand counts its votes.
