Who gets to watch Alberta's referendum votes being counted?

Albertans are already heading to the polls, but a dispute is brewing over who gets to watch the votes being counted. Elections Alberta says third-party campaign groups can't appoint their own scrutineers, observers who oversee the voting and ballot counting process. It's not that they're not allowed, it's that they're not needed at this stage. Here's where it gets complicated. The UCP and NDP can appoint scrutineers, but both parties are campaigning to keep Alberta in Canada. That leaves the pro-separation side without observers specifically representing its position. Elections Alberta says allowing more scrutineers would create logistical problems, particularly at crowded polling stations. We have constraints when it comes to space, and we need to make sure that we're allowing the process to proceed without any setbacks or holdbacks in timings, and that's a really important part for us. The decision came after campaign groups had already applied to appoint scrutineers. Now, seven pro-separation groups are calling on Elections Alberta to reconsider. And they're offering a compromise to address concerns about overcrowding. We propose to select one third-party advertiser from either side. Levine says the concern goes beyond who gets a seat at the table. He worries that without observers representing both sides, some Albertans may question the results. We would like to make sure that the public feels confident in the referendum and the counting. And I really think the only way to ensure that the largest group of people will accept the results is to ensure that third-party advertisers also have scrutineers during the counting. On the other side of the debate, Forever Canadian leader Thomas Lukaszek isn't happy about the decision either. He says his group has plenty of volunteers willing to monitor the vote. But unlike the pro-separation campaigners, he's not challenging Elections Alberta. He says he trusts the people counting the ballots. They have about 30,000 Albertans working for them, so those are as good as scrutineers. They're just average, rank-and-file Albertans that will be counting those ballots, and why should we not trust them? Former Alberta Chief Electoral Officer Lorne Gibson says campaign groups could challenge the decision, but with advance voting already underway, he questions whether there's enough time to resolve the dispute. Considering that advance poll voting has already started, I'm not certain that there would be a resolution to this that would be satisfactory to third-party advertisers. Advance polls remain open through Saturday, and with referendum day set for Monday, October 19th, the clock is ticking for campaigners hoping to change who gets to watch the count. Tristan Muttershed, CBC News, Edmonton.