Elections Alberta says the unofficial referendum count has been completed, three days after the 48-hour deadline. All special ballots were counted around 10:40 p.m. on Oct. 22. The unofficial count was completed at 9:14 p.m. on Saturday. “Despite the efforts of more than 47,000 election workers, it just wasn’t possible to finalize the hand count within 48 hours due to procedural errors,” said spokesperson Michelle Gurney in a press release Sunday. Elections Alberta said that workers hand counted more ballots than any previous Canadian electoral event, hitting 20,574,612. Results posted to the website may change as Elections Alberta verifies votes. Official results will be released on Oct. 29. The budget for the referendum will be presented to the Legislative Assembly at the end of November and a report will be available at a later date. The referendum posed 10 questions to voters. About three million Albertans were eligible to vote.
