Innisfail is one of dozens of communities across the province where Elections Alberta is recruiting a small army of local workers for the upcoming provincial referendum this October.
Hundreds of paid positions are available in the Innisfail-Sylvan Lake electoral district, where residents can sign on as voting officers, site supervisors, information officers, registration officers and counting officers. The jobs run during advance voting from October 13 to 17, on election day October 19, and during the ballot count on October 19 to 21.
Anyone 16 years or older who is eligible to work in Canada can apply, although a handful of roles require workers to be at least 18 on election day. Applications are accepted online from June 8 through October 10; hiring takes place between July 15 and October 10, and successful candidates will hear back starting in mid-July.
This is the largest electoral worker recruitment drive in Alberta’s history. The province needs at least 60,000 election officers to handle the massive job of hand-counting roughly 45 million ballots covering 10 separate referendum questions, all within 48 hours after polls close.
“I especially encourage rural Albertans to apply,” Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure said in a statement. “Delivering a referendum of this scale will require dedicated election workers in every corner of our province.”
Pay varies by role. A voting officer earns $75 for training plus $255 for election day duties, while a site supervisor receives $150 for training plus $350 for the day. Counting officers and coordinators are paid hourly at $20 to $23. Most jobs come with a $75 training fee, and workers are compensated for the time they put in.
Because every ballot must be tallied by hand, Elections Alberta is calling on residents across Innisfail-Sylvan Lake and surrounding rural areas to step forward and help run the vote.
