Alberta voters make their mark
By Justin Sibbet - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on May 30, 2023.
As the polls wind down and the ballots have been cast, Albertans have made their decision on election day.Nearly 70,000 voters were registered ahead of the election in Lethbridge, according to Elections Alberta, while more than 2.8 million voters were registered across the entire province.
Meanwhile, 25 polling stations were set up Monday across Lethbridge for the election, 12 in the west and 13 in the east.
Furthermore, Alberta saw a record high turnout in advance voting for this election, with Elections Alberta indicating more than 758,000 voters cast a ballot prior to the official election day.
One voter, Kaley McCordick in the Lethbridge-West constituency, says advance voting is fantastic since it allows more flexibility for voters and alleviates stress on elections staff.
“It really lightens up the load I think, on election day,” said McCordick.
Furthermore, she says Elections Alberta has created an easy process for those wishing to cast their ballot.
“I think I got two notices in the mail, I was able to register online,” said McCordick. “Definitely forgot my voter card today, did not matter because they had my name. All I needed was my I.D.”
She says the whole process took less than five minutes.
However, not everyone was having an easy time at the polling stations.
Lethbridge-East voter, Amanda MacDonald, says she went to vote yesterday with her boyfriend, but they were at the polling station for nearly two hours.
She says she would have voted in advance as her hindsight is now 20/20, but the evening dragged on after her voter card arrived without her name and her boyfriend was in the process of moving.
“It was a big, long line-up and it was pretty frustrating,” said MacDonald. I didn’t happen to have my driver’s licence on me.”
She says the evening spent at the polling station was strenuous, but the elections officials were pleasant to deal with.
“They were very nice inside, no complaints about the staff working,” said MacDonald.
In the end, MacDonald and her boyfriend were still able to cast their votes.
Although some voters have struggled with various issues on election day, other voters say it is still important to head out and mark a name down no matter what.
Vanessa Rogers, a voter in the Lethbridge-West constituency, says it is important because you need to be aware of who is running our government.
“I think a lot of people don’t vote because they don’t know how things work,” said Rogers. “You definitely pay attention when you vote.”
She says this is because voters are more invested in the idea of holding politicians accountable on their campaign promises.
“I voted for that guy so why aren’t they doing what they promised?”
Rogers says education is also important when it comes to voting, as she believes those who make the goal of getting out on election day tend to do more research than those who do not vote.
“You’ll sit down, you’ll figure it out,” said Rogers. “Who’s doing what and why and do their values align with mine?”
Another voter who shared this thought was Jason Drader, a voter in the Lethbridge-East constituency.
He says educating yourself is paramount to making an informed decision and voters should know who they’re voting for before casting their ballot.
“At this point, you should be briefed up on it already, who you’re going to vote for and why,” said Drader.
He continued by saying Alberta has become too politically charged over the past few years, although he still votes with the hope of seeing a government that does the best thing for everyone.
“I think the last few years, everything is about politics now,” said Drader. “It’s sad to say … four years ago we lived our lives, now everyone watches politics and it breaks my heart.”
Even so, Drader says voting is important and it is quite literally your voice to the government.
Polls closed at 8 p.m. last night, with voters from all over the city able to make their voices heard. 2
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