Alberta voters chose to remain in Canada by a wide provincial margin, but the official count shows Drumheller-Stettler was nearly evenly divided on whether the province should begin a legal process that could lead to a binding separation vote.

Elections Alberta released the final referendum results Thursday, confirming 1,556,316 votes to remain in Canada and 520,233 votes to begin the constitutional process. The two options received 74.95 per cent and 25.05 per cent of valid votes respectively.

The result was much closer in Drumheller-Stettler. The final riding count recorded 10,361 votes to remain and 9,713 votes to begin the process, a difference of 648 votes. That works out to 51.62 per cent and 48.38 per cent.

Question 10 was non-binding. A vote for the second option would not itself have separated Alberta from Canada. It would have directed the provincial government to begin the legal steps required before a later binding referendum could be held under the Constitution.

Questions 5 and 10 had the highest turnout at 70.4 per cent. Elections Alberta listed 3,148,205 eligible electors and reported 2,216,505 ballots cast on Question 10, including valid, declined and rejected ballots.

The referendum included nine other questions. Voters supported all five non-binding proposals dealing with immigration, access to provincial programs and election identification. The strongest of those results was 58.06 per cent support for requiring proof of citizenship to vote in an Alberta provincial election.

Voters rejected all four constitutional proposals. Those questions dealt with provincial selection of some judges, abolishing the Senate, opting out of federal programs while retaining associated funding and giving provincial laws priority in certain conflicts with federal law.

The widest rejection among the constitutional questions came on allowing provinces to opt out of federal programs without losing associated funding. That proposal received 42.44 per cent support and 57.56 per cent opposition.

Elections Alberta said results are available by question, electoral division and voting method. At 14 voting locations, ballots from multiple voting areas were combined and are reported at the voting-place level, though electoral-division totals remain available.

The final count now gives the provincial government verified results to consider. Any policy or legislative response will require separate public decisions, and the non-binding questions do not change law on their own.