Advance voting begins Monday in Calgary’s municipal election. Anyone who won’t be able to vote on Oct, 20, or who’s already decided, can now cast their ballot at any of the 42 advance polling stations around the city. “We have significantly increased our voting stations. The last time that we had a hand count election in 2017 there was approximately 75,000 voters that voted during the advance voter period, there certainly was an increase in the 2021 election where we saw nearly 145,000 Calgarians head to the voting stations during advance voting,” said Kate Martin, the City of Calgary’s returning officer. Voters can use the online Where to Vote tool to find the location nearest to them. Besides the general locations, Calgarians can also vote at post-secondary schools, care facilities, hospitals and the vote bus - a mobile voting station that brings the ballot box to voters. A full schedule for the vote bus is available online. In order to vote, you will need one piece of government-issued ID, such as a driver’s licence. Ballots cast during the advance vote, including mail-in ballots, will be counted by hand after 7:30 p.m. on election day. Counting is expected to take two days , with official election results available at noon on Oct. 24. “We will be asking Calgarians and candidates for a bit of patience this time around, we are projecting the count will take us longer than it did during the 2021 general election and that is due to the new rules around the prohibition of vote tabulators,” said Martin. Advance polls are open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. until Oct. 11.
