References:
See p.9, 2023 Provincial General Election Statement of Votes, Elections Alberta, 2024, https://www.elections.ab.ca/uploads/2023-PGE-Statement-of-Vote.pdf.
Valid Ballots and Valid Votes:
There are variations in the way in which electoral commissions ballots across Canadian jurisdictions as well as across time for any one electoral commission. These treatments may also vary from the attempt at a common approach taken by the CED.
For this election in Alberta in 2023, Total Ballots Cast is the "sum of all valid, declined, and rejected ballots cast. This represents the total number of voters in an election."
Valid ballots are those that are clearly marked for one candidate and counted in accordance with section 111 of the Election Act. This data column is found on both the “Candidate Vote Counts” page to reflect the total of all candidate vote totals and
on the “Categorization of Votes Cast” as a subset of “Total Votes Cast”.
A declined ballot is one that was returned to the election officer by an elector who chose not to vote for any candidate listed on the ballot. Declined ballots are not placed in the ballot box for counting but are instead placed in a separate envelope labelled “declined ballots”.
(It could be argued that as they are not "cast" they should be excluded. We have chosen to include them in the ballot cast total.)
Rejected ballots are ballots placed in the ballot box for counting but not counted because the elector’s intent was unclear, because no candidate or more than one candidate was selected, or because readily identifying marks were added. A rejected ballot is placed in a separate envelope labelled “rejected ballots”. For special ballot, rejected ballots also include any special ballot package that was requested but not returned prior to the close of voting on Election Day.
A spoiled ballot is one that was marked incorrectly by an elector and returned to the election officer for replacement. The elector then votes using the replacement ballot from the election officer. A spoiled ballot is not placed in the ballot box for counting but is instead placed in a separate envelope labelled “spoiled ballots".
See p.9, 2023 Provincial General Election Statement of Votes, Elections Alberta, 2024, https://www.elections.ab.ca/uploads/2023-PGE-Statement-of-Vote.pdf.
Note:
APA Advantage Party of Alberta
LIB Alberta Liberal Party
NDP Alberta New Democratic Party
AP Alberta Party
CP-A Communist Party – Alberta
GPA Green Party of Alberta
PAPA Pro-Life Alberta Political Association
REF Reform Party of Alberta
SM Solidarity Movement of Alberta
BPA The Buffalo Party of Alberta
TIP The Independence Party of Alberta
UCP United Conservative Party
WIPA Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta
WLC Wildrose Loyal Coalition
IND Independent