UCP wins the Alberta 2023 provincial election
By Julieanne Acosta, May 30 2023—
Alberta will remain under a United Conservative Party (UCP) government — while the New Democratic Party (NDP) will sit as the official opposition.
“Today Albertans chose to move our province forward by re-electing a strong stable, united conservative majority government,” Smith said in her victory speech.
After a long night of vote tabulating and endless speculation, the UCP has won the majority of seats in the Alberta Legislative Assembly — effectively re-electing Danielle Smith as the premier of Alberta. The tally of votes trickled in slowly, as many Albertans voiced their frustration on social media. Although the numbers become official on June 8 through Elections Alberta, many major Canadian broadcasting stations have called a UCP majority.
Regardless, Elections Alberta reassured Albertans throughout the night of election day, noting that they are diligently checking the number of votes.
“Carefully and accurately processing votes takes time. Our Returning Officers and Election Officers are working hard to both compile the advance vote totals and complete a hand count of today’s ballots,” wrote Elections Alberta on Twitter.
“Tonight, we want to assure Albertans that the integrity of the provincial election is our priority—no matter how long it takes,” they continued in a separate tweet.
As of May 30 at 9 a.m., the UCP holds 49 seats while the NDP holds 38 — 44 seats are needed to win a majority, making this one of the tightest races Alberta has seen between the two major parties.
A battleground for both parties — Calgarians votes were split between the two. With 26 constituencies, the NDP secured 14 of them, while the UCP won 12.
In a press release to the Gauntlet, Rachel Notley, leader of the NDP, wrote this is a step towards change.
“Although we did not achieve the outcome we wanted, we took a major step toward it. The unprecedented growth of our party through this campaign is a warm light, one that gives me so much optimism for the work to come,” the statement read.
To learn more about the unofficial results, visit the Elections Alberta website.
This is a developing news story. More information to come
Last updated: May 30, 9:30 a.m.