How to Vote
Choose Your Preferred Voting Option
Once a writ of election is issued, the 28-day election period commences. Electors can choose when and where to vote from several different options. For example, while the majority of electors vote in person on Election Day or during the five days of advance voting, there are opportunities on all 28 days of the election calendar for you to cast your ballot.
During an election, more information will be provided about your assigned voting location and alternative voting options on your Where to Vote card and on our Where to Vote website.
Voting in Person
There are four in-person voting options available to voters during the election period:
1. Election Day for Calgary-Shaw is September 14, 2026. Voting locations will be open from 9:00am to 8:00pm. You will be able to find your assigned voting location in the coming weeks with our Where to Vote tool. On Election Day, every elector is assigned a voting location based on their place of ordinary residence. Electors may only vote at their assigned voting location. All Election Day voting locations are open from 9:00am to 8:00pm. Election Day voting locations are most commonly in schools, churches, community halls, and other public buildings to provide electors with an accessible voting location close to where they live. Electors who are unable to vote on Election Day should consider voting during one of the five advance voting days, or voting by mail.
2. Advance Voting
Vote at any advance voting location for the Calgary-Shaw by-election between Tuesday, September 8 and Saturday, September 12, 2026. Find your closest advance voting location using our Where to Vote tool.
Advance voting takes place the week before Election Day, from Tuesday through Saturday between 9:00am and 8:00pm. While days and hours of operation may vary for some locations, every electoral division will have at least one location open for the full advance voting period. Electors may choose to vote at any advance voting location in their electoral division.
Advance voting locations are commonly in malls, community centres, libraries, work camps, universities, and other public buildings to provide electors with locations convenient to where they live, work, shop, or travel.
Voting in advance is the preferred option for electors who cannot attend their assigned voting location on Election Day, such as students studying away from home and people who may be working away or travelling on Election Day. Electors may vote at any advance voting location in their electoral division. Electors who cannot vote at an advance or Election Day location may vote by mail.
For the September 14, 2026, by-election, the returning office is located at:
ED ED23 – Calgary-Shaw
1000, 15 Sunpark Plaza SE, Suite 250
Calgary
Phone: 825.414.1372
Toll Free: 1.833.483.0968
The returning office is open:
Weekdays from 9:00am to 6:00pm,
Saturdays from 10:00am to 4:00pm, and
On voting days from 9:00am to 8:00pm.
Electors may visit their local returning office to update voter registration, pick up a special ballot, or submit candidate nomination papers.
3. Mobile Voting
Some facilities are eligible to receive a mobile voting station on Election Day or during advance voting days. Eligible facilities include:
- Treatment centres, such as hospitals and facilities providing care under the Mental Health Act;
- Supportive living facilities, such as lodges and facilities providing assisted living and accommodation;
- Long-term care facilities;
- Emergency shelters providing short-term housing for individuals experiencing homelessness or escaping domestic violence; and
- Community support centres providing services to people experiencing poverty or homelessness.
Facilities must have at least 10 electors who are resident or receiving services at the facility to be eligible for a mobile voting station. The date and hours of operation of the voting station are established in consultation with the facility operator, considering the number of electors who reside or receive services at the facility.
Only residents and those receiving services at the facility may vote at a mobile voting station. Identification is not required, but the facility representative must confirm the individual resides or receives services at the facility. Staff and family members are not eligible to vote at a mobile voting station.
Mobile voting provides electors who are unable to provide identification or do not have access to Election Day or advance voting locations with a voting opportunity within the facility they reside or receive services.
Guides are available for facility operators to learn more about mobile voting options.
4. Voting By Mail
Electors may apply to vote by special ballot if they are unable to vote during advance voting days or on Election Day.
Special Ballots may also be picked up at the returning office or Elections Alberta in Edmonton, picked up by a designate of the elector, or mailed to the elector.
Requests for a special ballot to be mailed out can only be made until midnight on September 4, 2026.
Completed special ballot packages must be received at Elections Alberta by mail by 5:00pm on September 11, 2026. Special ballots cannot be delivered in person.
How to Vote By Mail Apply for a Special Ballot