Advanced polling opens as Edmonton voters head to the ballot box early

As Edmonton’s municipal elections nears, a growing number of voters are choosing to cast their ballots early, skipping the wait and making their decisions ahed of the official election date on Oct. 20th.

Early voters spoke with CityNews to discuss who they will give their vote to.

“We are voting for Tim,” said Anne Fast, voter. “He is the best guy. We had a different guy before he never listened to us..”

“Well, I really hope to see Andrew Knack as mayor,” said Paul Welke, voter.

“I couldn’t really see a strong difference between them, but I was ultimately able to make a decision based upon what I heard,” said Wayne Anderson, voter. 

The Westend seniors’ activity centre is one of the 12 advanced polling stations opening Tuesday. Due to the Canada Post strike, there are no voter cards this year, instead voters need to bring their government-issued Id. 

Some voters told CityNews they voted early to avoid line ups on election day.

“To get ahead of the crowd, it’s going to be down at the beulah alliance coming next week or whenever during the 20th,” said Margo Boyd, voter.

Many voters are hoping for change, wanting new leadership and fresh ideas.

“I think we should be looking at attacking the root causes of crime and actually patching up the holes,” said Paul Welke, voter. 

“A reduction in property taxes is too much to ask for, but it would be nice if they would hold the line for a while,” said Wayne Anderson, voter.

Unlike past city elections, the province has banned electronic tabulators, with ballots for mayor, council and school board trustee to be hand counted election night.

“I hope that this one listens, and this is to everybody and not only to one kind of people,” said Fast. 

“The new council has to know; they have to be on the same page,” said Boyd. “It seems like there are a lot of things that they want to do, but a lot of it’s not getting done.”

Advanced polling open noon to 8 every day until Saturday, if you miss advanced polls, your last chance to vote is election day on Monday, Oct. 20th.