UCP leadership campaigns reach out after thousands of mail-in ballots are rejected
Thousands of mail-in ballots in the United Conservative Party leadership vote have been rejected and now some voters are receiving phone calls and emails telling them they'll have to vote in person on Thursday.
One such email is from the Danielle Smith leadership campaign, which claims to be an "emergency notice" to the person that their ballot has not been received by the UCP.
"We asked the UCP party to send the email to those whose ballots have not been verified (received), on behalf of our campaign. This is the mechanism all campaigns use to email party members," said a spokesperson with the Smith campaign.
The party confirms that campaigns are contacting people who have not had a ballot that has been received or if their mail-in ballot was rejected.
About 97 per cent of the mail-in ballots that were sent in to choose the UCP's next leader and Alberta's next premier have been verified, a party spokesperson said.
As of Tuesday night, nearly 82,000 ballots had been sent in, meaning thousands of them have been rejected.
"The rest were rejected because they did not meet the requirements, such as an unsigned declaration form or invalid identification. If a mail-in ballot was rejected, that individual is not marked as voted and is still eligible to vote in person," said Dave Prisco, the UCP's director of communications.
In-person voting will happen at five locations in Alberta between 8 a.m. and noon Thursday. Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Taber and Slave Lake are all hosting in-person voting locations.
All of the votes will be counted in Calgary and the city's BMO Centre will be where the new leader will be announced Thursday afternoon.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.