INNISFAIL – Voters in the province did not wait until election day to have their say.
Thousands of citizens across the province voted in the advance polls between April 9 and 13, including many here in the riding of Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.
“We had a strong turnout here in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake,” said Carla Gabert, returning officer.
Advance votes cast within all provincial ridings will be counted on election day, but not until polls close, said Elections Alberta (EA) officials.
The local riding saw several voters from outside of this electoral district as well, noted Gabert.
“There were people who came into our advance polls that were from out of area that used the vote anywhere feature,” she said. “The vote anywhere ballots will be counted in Edmonton and we will be counting everything that was cast in (our) area.”
The votes from outside the riding, as well as special ballots, will be counted the day after the election, said EA officials.
Unofficially, the 2019 advance poll turnout was 696,000. That number is more than double the total for advance poll turnout in the last provincial election in May 2015, which was 235,000.
Of the total advance poll turnout this year, 473,000 people voted in their electoral district, while 223,000 citizens in Alberta took advantage of the vote anywhere feature that was only available during the advance poll period.
One of those citizens that voted in the advance polls was 18-year-old Eddie Visser, who was voting in her first election.
“I was pretty excited about it (voting for the first time),” Visser. “I care about how my province is run so it’s nice to have a say.”
While there were no issues that stood out for her, she did agree with many in the province about the economy and the environment as major issues in this election.
“It seems like there’s a lot of divide in Alberta right now so I just felt like saying my piece and contributing,” she added, noting the importance of young people exercising their democratic right to vote.
“I think it’s incredibly important,“ said Visser. “We are one of the statistical groups in Alberta so it’s important that we use our voices the same way that other groups would use (theirs), like older groups and our parents.”
Visser encourages other youth in Alberta to do their part as well.
“It only took five minutes,” she said. “It’s not like it’s going to take a lot of time out of your day, just go do it. It’s important,” Visser concluded.
Today is election day (April 16), and polls across the province are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
