Citizen Initiative Petition Verification Begins

July 06, 2026

EDMONTON, AB – As a result of a judicial decision on June 29, 2026, Elections Alberta is set to begin petition verification for “A Referendum Relating to Alberta Independence” citizen initiative petition on July 6, 2026. As required by section 10(2), the Chief Electoral Officer has provided notice to both the proponent and the Minister of Justice with the dates, times, and location of the verification process. Both the proponent and Minister can request scrutineers – lawyers and active members of the Law Society – to be present to observe the verification process.

On May 4, 2026, Elections Alberta received the signature sheets for the petition from proponent Mitch Sylvestre. Petition verification has been on hold since, due to a stay issued by the Court of King’s Bench, and then a decision quashing the issuance of the petition.

Mr. Sylvestre has appealed the quashing of the petition. On June 29, 2026, the Court of Appeal provided a decision on the stay pending appeal, issuing a partial stay. The partial stay requires Elections Alberta to proceed with the citizen initiative petition verification process as set out in section 10 of the Citizen Initiative Act and report results. The Court of Appeal has provided direction that the partial stay be effective July 6.

Next steps:
A citizen initiative petition requires signatures from at least 10% of the total number of votes cast in the previous provincial general election to be successful, in this case 177,732.

Elections Alberta has 21 days to verify the petition, using the method as prescribed in the Act to achieve a 95% confidence level.

The verification process includes:

• Confirmation that only the petition signature sheets as provided to the applicant were used in the collection of signatures;
• Confirmation that only original signatures have been collected, and individuals have signed the petition only once during the 120-day petition signing period;
• A review of each signature to ensure the required information was provided (full name, physical address, contact information, date, signature, eligibility declaration);
• Confirmation that each signature on the petition was witnessed by a registered canvasser and a canvasser signed each petition sheet;
• A statistically valid random sample to confirm the signatories’ addresses are in Alberta; and,
• Contacting a statistically valid random sample of signatories to verify their information and they signed the petition.

As soon as practical after completing the petition verification and no later than July 27, 2026, Elections Alberta will report the verification results on the Elections Alberta website.

Important: During the 21-day verification process, Elections Alberta staff will contact a sample of electors who signed the petition to verify their information and signatures, using the contact information recorded on the petition signature sheets. Electors who have signed the petition are asked to be prepared to verify their information, as they may be contacted.

If a phone number was listed in the contact information, randomly selected electors will receive a text message in advance of a verification phone call from Elections Alberta indicating we will be calling to verify their information. There is no need to call or text us back.

If an email was listed in the contact information, randomly selected electors will receive an email from Elections Alberta with the information to be verified. Electors will respond by email with the correct information in order to have their signature verified.

On May 1, 2026, the Chief Electoral Officer also directed that the Citizen Initiative petition verification process be amended. Verification will now include determining if any of the seeded names from the Republican Party of Alberta’s List of Electors are contained in any incoming petition. If any of the seeded names are included, further scrutiny will result. This updated process will apply to the “A Referendum Relating to Alberta Independence” petition.

Initiative Petition Background Information
The “A Referendum Relating to Alberta Independence” citizen initiative application from the proponent is for a constitutional proposal with the proposed question: “Do you agree that the Province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?”

The application was approved and the Notice of Initiative Petition issued on January 2, 2026. Please see: New Citizen Initiative Petition Issued – Elections Alberta.

The signature period for “A Referendum Relating to Alberta Independence” citizen initiative petition ended May 2, 2026, and Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure received the petition and signature sheets from proponent Mitch Sylvestre, as well as a signed affidavit from the proponent that all copies of signature sheets have been destroyed, as required by section 6(1.1) of the Citizen Initiative Act.

Boxes with the petition signature sheets were sealed, signed, locked in cabinets, and are secured and stored with 24/7 security monitoring until the verification process begins.

More information on the citizen initiative process, including recent changes to legislation, what happens next if a petition is successful, the status of citizen initiative petitions, proponent financing rules, third party advertising rules, and answers to frequently asked questions may be found on Elections Alberta’s website.

Elections Alberta is an independent, non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta responsible for administering provincial elections, by-elections, and referendums.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Maia-Lys Hanrahan
Media Relations
Email: [email protected]

Posted in: Press Releases