{"id":952886,"date":"2026-10-31T07:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T07:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/952886\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T07:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T07:50:10","slug":"elections-alberta-urges-mlas-to-hold-off-on-approving-new-electoral-map-or-postpone-2027-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/952886\/","title":{"rendered":"Elections Alberta urges MLAs to hold off on approving new electoral map or postpone 2027 vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A polling location for the Alberta referendum, in Edmonton, Sept. 3. Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure said in a letter to MLAs that the flurry of electoral activity in the province over the past year has severely constrained the agency\u2019s ability to prepare for the next provincial electionJames Maclennan\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s chief electoral officer is urging members of the provincial legislature to either not approve the new electoral maps scheduled to be released Monday or delay next year\u2019s provincial election, saying Elections Alberta doesn\u2019t have the time or resources to implement the changes by next year\u2019s fixed election date.<\/p>\n

Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure, in a Friday letter sent to each of the province\u2019s 87 MLAs, and circulated by the Alberta NDP, warned that the flurry of electoral activity in the province over the past year has severely constrained the agency\u2019s ability to prepare for the next provincial election.<\/p>\n

Elections Alberta typically requires 12 to 18 months to plan and prepare for a provincial election, and establishing the boundaries is only the first step in the process, he wrote.<\/p>\n

As a consequence, Mr. McClure urged MLAs to consider one of two options: hold the Oct. 18, 2027 provincial election using the already established electoral map, or accept the new map and extend the fixed-election date \u201cwhere legally authorized and necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI urge all Members to consider the time required for implementation as deliberations concerning electoral boundaries proceed,\u201d Mr. McClure wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cA timely and definitive resolution, together with an appropriate contingency plan should additional time be required, is essential to protecting the readiness and successful delivery of Alberta\u2019s next provincial general election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s electoral boundaries are expected to be tabled in the provincial legislature on Monday and, if approved, would be used for next year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

The redrawing process, mandated by Alberta law, has been clouded by allegations of gerrymandering, the U.S.-style tactic of manipulating electoral maps to create an artificial advantage, since Premier Danielle Smith in April rejected a independent commission\u2019s proposed boundaries.<\/p>\n

Alberta NDP accuses Smith of gerrymandering as province prepares to unveil new electoral map<\/a><\/p>\n

Her government then formed a UCP-dominated committee that created a new independent panel charged with taking a second attempt at drawing the electoral map. The panel consisted of two members tapped by the NDP, two by the UCP, and was chaired by retired Alberta judge Brian O\u2019Ferrall.<\/p>\n

It delivered that map to the committee of MLAs last week.<\/p>\n

The report remains confidential, but on Wednesday Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi and two fellow New Democrat MLAs detailed extensive concerns about the new proposed boundaries. <\/p>\n

Mr. Nenshi called the map \u201cillegal,\u201d saying Ms. Smith\u2019s government had \u201cengineered the single worst case of gerrymandering in Alberta history\u201d \u2013 though he stopped short of saying whether the NDP planned to launch a legal challenge.<\/p>\n

The Premier has said she will withhold judgment on the map until it is publicly released.<\/p>\n

But with the prospect of a bitter political fight and potential court challenge over the boundaries, Mr. McClure wrote that compressing the timeline ahead of next year\u2019s election would stretch Elections Alberta even further.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Elections Alberta takes no position on the merits of any potential legal proceedings, the prospect of a court challenge introduces additional uncertainty into an already compressed implementation schedule,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Mapping how Alberta\u2019s electoral boundary changes could reshape the political landscape<\/a><\/p>\n

He continued that Elections Alberta is already the leanest electoral agency in Canada on a per-voter-served basis.<\/p>\n

Mr. McClure has issued several warnings<\/a> this year about Elections Alberta\u2019s ability to manage the recent referendum and next year\u2019s provincial election, in addition to the wave of citizen-initiated and recall petitions launched over the past year. <\/p>\n

He reiterated those concerns in his letter, saying resources normally dedicated to the general election were diverted for the referendum.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last 24 months we have been increasingly required to do more, with less resources,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Mr. McClure\u2019s recommendations give Ms. Smith\u2019s government the option of pushing back the next general election.<\/p>\n

The Premier\u2019s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n

Ms. Smith\u2019s United Conservative Party government was elected on May 29, 2023, giving the province the option of holding the next election in spring, 2028, at the latest.<\/p>\n

Her government in 2024 pushed back<\/a> the fixed election date from May to October to reduce the risk of elections being impacted by natural disasters, which tend to occur more often in the spring. Wildfires during the 2023 vote forced the evacuation of nearly 30,000 people as parties jostled on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n

Under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provincial legislatures have a maximum legal lifespan of five years. <\/p>\n

Mr. Nenshi, in a statement, called on Ms. Smith to adopt the electoral map proposed by the previous independent panel.<\/p>\n

\u201cDanielle Smith and the UCP should have implemented the independent commission\u2019s report six months ago and they could still do it now,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlbertans deserve to vote in free, fair and timely elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elections Alberta did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A polling location for the Alberta referendum, in Edmonton, Sept. 3. Chief Electoral…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":952887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-952886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/952887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}