More than 20,000 Albertans apply to work October referendum, Elections Alberta needs 60,000
With hand-counted ballots required, Elections Alberta launched recruitment a month ago and expects to hire enough workers by the October 19 referendum day.
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Elections Alberta received more than 20,000 applications within a month of launching a recruitment campaign for workers to staff the October 19 referendum, with a goal of hiring at least 60,000 people.
Hand-counting all ballots means a large workforce is essential. Elections Alberta expects to announce unofficial results within 48 hours of polls closing.
Applicants will be screened, and those who already applied should learn in the coming days whether they're successful. Recruitment ads are running on radio and online, with Elections Alberta asking returning officers to reach out to local residents and organizations in their municipalities.
There is a particular push to recruit workers outside the province's larger cities. "We definitely have a rural focus and that's just because the smaller population sizes in those areas could mean fewer potential candidates," said Elections Alberta spokesperson Maia Hanrahan.
Elections Alberta expects this to be one of the largest recruitment efforts in Canada for a referendum — a comparison to the 1995 Quebec referendum, which saw 57,000 electoral workers.
The province will print 45 million colour-coded ballots, with one of the 10 referendum questions per ballot. The top question asks whether Albertans want the province to remain in Canada or support starting the legal process of holding a binding referendum on separation. The other nine questions relate to immigration and the Canadian constitution.
Counting officers earn $75 for training and $20/hour for work during the referendum. Other roles available include site supervisors and ballot box clerks. Applicants must be at least 16 years old (18 for some roles) and eligible to work in Canada. Applications remain open as Elections Alberta works to fill its quota.
