Calgary’s ballot a puzzle

Here’s a tip for the harried civic election voter — cast your ballot early to avoid a serious crush at the polls on Oct. 18.

The main reason is the most complex city election ballot you’ve ever seen.

In the recent federal election I voted in little more than a minute. It was simple — just pick your choice for riding MP and get outta there.

This civic thing is a different beast entirely. It took nearly 15 minutes to vote, and there was no lineup, not a single person ahead of me at the advance voting station.

Most of the time was taken up with getting a grip on that ballot.

The nice person at the first booth took several minutes to explain it, outline COVID-19 measures and answer any questions in the modern way, with masked shouting.

Then I needed several more minutes to make sense of the choices, even though I already had a good idea what to expect.

After that, it was off to see the person who accepts the ballot and then scans them into the voting machine, which tells you your vote has been counted.

Throw all that in with the health measures, which are strict, and you’ve got a recipe for major traffic jams when people show up in droves on voting day.

There are really two ballots, provincial and city.

The provincial one has referendum questions on daylight time and equalization, as well as a whack of choices for Senate nominees, including the guy who promises to turn the Senate into a Thunderdome.

The city ballots have the list of 28 candidates for mayor, the council hopefuls for your ward and a referendum on water fluoridation.

That last choice is really easy to miss, down at the very bottom of the sheet.

These ballots are like something you’d see from an American state, where people vote at the same time for president, governor, state and U.S. senators, judges, school officials, maybe the name of the sheriff ’s dog.

Advance voting was held at 37 locations until Sunday.

This is by far the most consequential civic election since 2010, when the mayoral job was open and Naheed Nenshi won.

It has been pushed back in the news by the fourth wave of COVID-19 and the riveting trials of Premier Jason Kenney.

But Calgarians always start to get really interested over the Thanksgiving weekend.

The mayoral race took shape at two video debates.

Coun. Jeromy Farkas staked out his territory on the right, often harshly criticizing his chief opponent, Coun. Jyoti Gondek, and Coun. Jeff Davison, who appears to be in third place.

Gondek took the high road in the chamber debate, ignoring Farkas while laying out her views on issues such as racism and the rebirth of the downtown.

Farkas accused Gondek of being in the pocket of the big city unions. She has been endorsed by Calgarians for a Progressive Future (Calgary’s Future), a union-backed fund said to have more than $1.4 million in the kitty.

Gondek’s campaign manager, Stephen Carter, says she didn’t seek the endorsement and hasn’t made any promises to Calgary’s Future. The group has apparently asked some candidates to pledge that they won’t cut union jobs.

Carter says Calgarians want Gondek’s optimism, hope and solid plans, not Farkas’ negative style.

One huge issue is the fate of the hollowed-out downtown. All the mayoral candidates have thoughtful positions, including Jan Damery and Brad Field, who are strong enough in the polls to be invited to the debates.

In past elections, even in 2010, enough incumbents ran that we had a good idea what the new council would look like, no matter who was mayor.

Now, with nine of 15 places open and a stark mayoral choice, it’s impossible to see what’s ahead.

My guess is that the turnout will be enormous. And slow-moving.