Alberta Refuses Election Chief’s Request to Delay 2027 Vote or Keep Current Map

Alberta’s justice minister on Sunday turned down a request from the province’s chief electoral officer to either hold the 2027 election on the current electoral map or postpone it, and told Elections Alberta to be ready on time.

Justice Minister Mickey Amery posted his reply to Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure on social media Sunday afternoon, CBC News reported. Amery said he expects the final boundaries to be set before the end of the legislature’s fall sitting, which would leave Elections Alberta nearly 11 months to prepare for the vote, scheduled for October 18, 2027.

“Alberta law does not guarantee Elections Alberta lengthy advance notice of a general election, and election readiness is a core part of Elections Alberta’s statutory mandate,” Amery wrote. The agency’s independence, he added, “does not diminish the duty to administer elections in accordance with the law.”

What the Elections Chief Asked

McClure’s letter, dated Friday, went to Speaker Ric McIver and the province’s legislators and was made public by the opposition New Democrats, Global News reported. He wrote that a typical provincial election takes up to 18 months to prepare and that the agency has been stretched thin, in part by the October 19 referendum.

“I urge all Members to consider the time required for implementation as deliberations concerning electoral boundaries proceed,” McClure wrote.

The Map Fight

The new boundaries come from an advisory panel whose report was due to be tabled in the legislature Monday. It draws a map for 91 seats, up from 87. The government set the panel up after declining to accept the recommendations of the Electoral Boundaries Commission, which reported in March with a majority opinion and a minority one.

Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi, who was briefed on the report, said it gerrymanders ridings in Lethbridge and Calgary and that his party would challenge the new ridings in court. Premier Danielle Smith denied that her government is manipulating the vote.

Elections Alberta ran the October 19 vote, in which about 75 percent chose to stay, as the Texian Partisan reported. If the new map passes this fall, the same agency will have less than a year to put it in place for a general election.