‘EVERY VOTE COUNTS’
Tight races for mayor, councillors, trustees as Calgarians head to polls
Today, tens of thousands of Calgarians will choose the mayor, councillors and school board trustees who will govern this city for the next four years.
Dozens of people have thrown their names into the race for city council or school board, and thousands of citizens have already voted in advance polls.
Lori Williams, a Mount Royal University political scientist, said it’s important Calgarians head to voting stations and have their say on the city’s future.
“(Voting) is likely to make a difference,” Williams said. “It’s a very close election, very hotly contested, and not just at the mayoralty level. I think in a number of wards there’s really close votes as well.”
Williams pointed to the 2015 provincial election — when an unprecedented tie was initially counted in the Calgary Glenmore riding — as proof of why every vote truly does matter.
“Every vote counts. I know people say that all the time and there’s elections where people justifiably doubt it, but this isn’t one of those elections,” she said. “Some of these races are going to be very, very close indeed, so voting can make a huge difference.”
There will be at least four new city councillors after Monday’s vote, with incumbents Jim Stevenson, Richard Pootmans and Brian Pincott not seeking re-election, and Ward 10’s Andre Chabot running for the mayor’s chair instead of a council seat.
Williams said another reason people should vote is that their voice could have a say on future elections, after a tense campaign characterized by nastiness not previously seen at the municipal level.
“In an election like this where there has been misinformation, there has been negativity, attempts at manipulation, lawsuits have been launched to try to influence the way that the vote goes ... it’s important to understand that your vote can also have an influence on the character of future elections,” she said.
Fewer than one in two Calgarians cast a ballot last time around, with the voter turnout in Calgary’s 2013 municipal election just 39 per cent.
In 2010, when no incumbent was running for the mayor’s chair, 53 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots.
This year, voters flocked to 26 advance polling stations in record numbers from Oct. 4 to Oct. 11, including nearly 2,000 people who cast ballots on a transit bus and 3,006 Calgarians who voted in their cars at a drive-up station at McMahon Stadium.
A total of 74,965 Calgarians cast ballots early this year — the highest advance-vote turnout in Calgary’s history and a 235 per cent increase over 2013, when 22,410 people voted early.
The record-breaking advance vote numbers come as the city spent $300,000 this year trying to improve voter turnout through initiatives such as more advance vote stations, handing out ‘I voted’ stickers, and giving out free transit tickets for election day.
Williams said while the city’s efforts may have had some impact on the early turnout, there’s more at play.
“I think it’s much more because the campaign is competitive,” she said.
“The reality is, particularly in municipal elections, people are much more likely to vote if they think their vote is going to make a difference, and this is an election where people sense that their vote will make a difference.”