INNISFAIL – With the clock counting down to election day, there is much to do behind the scenes.
Innisfail-Sylvan Lake returning officer Carla Gabert and her staff have been preparing for the election since the writ dropped March 19.
The team will oversee hiring and training staff, booking polling facilities, distributing special ballots, coordinating election day and conducting the official count on April 16.
“It’s going to be busy. We’ve had strong voter interest in the election,” said Gabert. “We did a full-scale enumeration in September and that would have updated a lot of the voters lists.
“Everybody is welcome to go online at www.elections.ab.ca and just confirm the information that’s there ahead of time,” she added.
The returning office for the 2019 general election is located in the Henday Mall in Innisfail, said Gabert, noting it is the location where constituents will vote in advance polls from April 9 to 13.
“There’s something new this year. (It allows people) to vote anywhere during the advance polls,” said Gabert. “What that means is if you’re in Innisfail (during the advance poll period) and you’re from Calgary, you can cast your ballot here,” she added. “We can generate that ballot for any riding in Alberta but only for those five days.
"There will be advance polls in Sylvan Lake at the NexSource Centre, in Delburne for two days, on April 9 and 13 and there will be an advance poll in Penhold on April 12,” she said, noting she believes people will use the ‘vote anywhere’ option during the advance polls. “You can vote anywhere in the province. It gives people more flexibility.”
Gabert said on election day there will be more than 80 polling stations in the constituency of Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.
“General elections generally have a stronger turnout than a byelection will,” said Gabert. “We are anticipating a good turnout for the election this spring.”
For more information contact the returning office, located in the Henday Mall at (587) 802-2737.
The returning office is open Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
