Citizen Initiative Petition Received, Verification Begins

June 10, 2026

EDMONTON, AB – The signature period for the “No New Coal Mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains” citizen initiative petition ended June 10, 2026, and Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure today received the petition and signature sheets from proponent Corby Lund.

The Chief Electoral Officer has also received 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.

Elections Alberta will now proceed with the citizen initiative petition verification process.

Amendments to the Citizen Initiative Act contained in Bill 23: Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2026, which came into force May 1, 2026, provides for changes to the verification process. Both the proponent and Minister of Justice can request scrutineers – lawyers and active members of the Law Society – to be present to observe the verification process.  As required by section 10(2), the Chief Electoral Officer has provided notice to both the proponent and the Minister with the dates, times, and location of the verification process.

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.

Next steps:
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);
• 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 1, 2026, Elections Alberta will report the verification results on the Elections Alberta website. If the petition is successful, Elections Alberta will submit a copy of the legislative proposal to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

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 from Elections Alberta indicating we will be calling to verify their information. Elections Alberta’s name will appear on the call display. 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.

Initiative Petition Background Information
The “No New Coal Mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains” citizen initiative application from the proponent is for a legislative proposal, requesting legislation prohibiting any new coal mining activity in the Eastern Slopes of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains.

The application was approved and the Notice of Initiative Petition issued on February 10, 2026. Please see: New Citizen Initiative Petition Issued – Elections Alberta

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:
Michelle Gurney
Media Relations
Phone: 403.431.0759
Email: [email protected]

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