On election day in Alberta, thousands of voters stood in long lines to cast their ballot, only for the evening to end with many races up in the air.
Provincial legislation passed in 2024 added more steps to the process and some voters in the province’s two biggest cities said they waited upwards of two hours to cast their ballot, which then had to be counted by hand.
The result? In Edmonton, no candidate — be it for mayor, city councillor or school trustee — was close to having enough votes to be elected come midnight.
At 12:15 a.m., only 11 per cent of polls for mayor were reporting, with Andrew Knack leading at 34 per cent, followed by Tim Cartmell at 30 per cent, and Omar Mohammad and Michael Walters tied at 12 per cent each.
The City of Edmonton said more standby workers were deployed to deal with the backlog but acknowledged voting stations experienced delays due to staff shortages.
“We did have some election workers who were hired, trained and assigned to voting stations, but unfortunately, their circumstances changed and they were not able to join us today,” the city said just before 7:30 p.m. as residents reported waiting several hours in line.
Meanwhile in Calgary, there were more results available for the mayoral race: as of midnight, over 80 per cent of polls were reporting with and a race too close to call between Jeromy Farkas and Sonia Sharp.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek was in third and conceded late Monday night, saying it was the honour of her life to serve as Calgary’s 37th mayor.
When polling stations were open earlier in the day, lineups were so long in some cases that people gave up and walked away without even voting in Edmonton and Calgary.
“I’m surprised by the length of the lineup,” said Michael Cooper as he waited for his turn to vote in Calgary in the early evening.
Chris Gerien, who voted at Colonel Walker School in Inglewood, said there weren’t enough Elections Calgary workers inside the school to deal with the long lineups.
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“I waited two hours in line,” said Gerien “They needed to fill out a form for every single voter and it’s all duplicate information for your address, postal code name and age which is already on the voter list.”
There were similar stories of frustration from voters in every corner of Calgary.
At St. Alphonsus School in the northeast part of the city, the lineup to vote was wrapped around the outside of the building, prompting some people to turn away without voting.
In an emailed update on Monday afternoon, Elections Calgary said 46 per cent of polling stations were reporting wait times of 10 minutes or less.
It blamed the long delays on new provincial legislation (Bill 20) that requires election workers to check a new “permanent electors register” to confirm a person’s eligibility to vote.
Officials in Edmonton said the same thing.
“All electors are legislatively required to complete a Statement of Eligibility form (Form 13) at the voting station. This form is a declaration by an elector that they meet the required legislated criteria to receive and cast ballots,” Elections Edmonton said.
“We ask Edmontonians to plan ahead and please have patience.”
If voters aren’t on the register, they can still vote but must produce one piece of government-issued ID, in addition to proof of their current address such as a lease agreement or bank statement.
Voters who aren’t on the register, but want vote in the school board election, public or separate, must also complete a statement confirming they are eligible to vote.
Those casting ballots said confirming voters are on the register or completing the necessary paperwork takes three to five minutes per voter.
The problem has been exacerbated by the Canada Post strike because in past elections, registered voters would’ve received a voter information card in the mail.
Some voters at Edmonton polling stations on Monday evening said they waited up to two hours to cast a ballot.
“Long, long lineup ahead of us and it looked like it was taking five minutes-ish per person so we did some math and figured out we’d have to come back later,” said voter Neil Fitzpatrick.
“I think it’s a problem when people have to wait that long it’s certainly going to perhaps slant the results (because) some people might end up walking away,” said voter Greg Plouffe.
That was a concern shared by at least one Edmonton mayoral candidate.
“When people who are on a busy schedule — if they are seeing the lines, it may deter them to vote,” said Rahim Jaffer.
“We hope that won’t happen but I’m afraid it could be an outcome.”
In Edmonton, the city estimated there were 679,830 eligible voters and of those, 205,758 cast ballots — a voter turnout 30.27 per cent. That’s the lowest voter turnout in Edmonton since 2007.
Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams indicated cities are responsible for the issues voters experienced on Monday.
“Municipalities have known about the new election rules and regulations since the spring of 2024, giving them ample time to prepare and make a plan so election day runs smoothly,” Williams said on Monday night.
“Voter attestation forms are a normal part of an election process and should not delay a properly staffed voting location.
“If a municipality’s election authority was unable to come up with an effective plan, it is up to the local authority to explain to voters and candidates why long waits have developed.”
The province said following every municipal election, the ministry reviews its legislation and regulations to identify if any improvements need to be made.
There are also expected to be long delays in determining the outcome of many of the races this year because the new provincial legislation also prevents the use of electronic tabulators and instead requires all the ballots to be counted by hand.
That means it could be several more days before voters know who the winners are.
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