They are still counting the votes, but the results so far show that about three quarters of Albertans have voted to stay in Canada. There will be no separation referendum.

Given that the results matched public opinion polls, you could say that the whole thing was a waste of time and money. And the discussion isn’t over – the separatists will try and revisit the issue, just as they have done in Quebec for the past 50 years.

The American attempts to interfere in the process came to naught. Expected Russian, Iranian and Chinese disinformation campaigns don’t seem to have been a problem.

One thing worth noting is that the ballots were being counted by hand. That certainly takes a little longer than feeding them through a machine, or internet voting, but to me it is essential to ensure the integrity of the process.

Paper ballots can be verified. Scrutineers ensure there is no attempt at election fraud.

It may take a little longer to count paper, but I think the time is worth it. Even with millions of votes cast, we usually get the results shortly after the polls close.

I have never understood why the US takes so long to come up with vote totals when they are using machines to vote. Yes, they have more voters, but in theory the machines are much faster.

I have no opinion o the machines’ accuracy. I don’t trust internet voting at all – too easy for bad actors to hack the system.

So Alberta is staying in Canada. Will that change anything?

The other nine ballot questions, suggesting the provincial government be authorized to push for substantive changes to the Canadian federation, were less clear in their results. The “yes” side seems to have narrowly won all of them, but there are still ballots to be counted. And the margin of victory won’t be decisive.

Will this elaborate public consultation lead to any changes of the division of power between Edmonton and Ottawa? I doubt it.

Do you think that is an accurate assessment?