Deadline to add your name to the province's permanent Electors Registry is by end of day today, though residents who aren't on the list can still vote in the upcoming municipal election by bringing photo ID with name and address.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
Registration for the province’s permanent Electors Registry, which also services municipal elections, must be completed today.
To vote in the 2025 Municipal election, Hatters must be on the registry and can sign up or check if they are registered at voterlink.ab.ca, or, if not on the list of electors come election time, by bringing ID that contains photo, name and home address to a polling station in advance or on Election Day.
Voting for Medicine Hat’s municipal election opens Oct. 4 with advance polls held before Election Day on Oct. 20. The city has announced two advance poll locations with six days for voting:
Hockey Hounds Recreation Centre at 39 10th St. NE;
Holy Family Parish at 1451 Strachan Rd.
Advance polls run Oct. 4 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and from Oct. 14-18 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
On Election Day, voting stations will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. for Hatters to cast their votes to choose the mayor, council and their designated school board trustees.
For those unable to make it to a voting station in October, voting by mail is an option. Hatters can request a special ballot from the elections office starting Aug. 29. All requests must be received by the Elections Office before 4 p.m. on Oct. 3. Those special ballots must be returned to the Elections Office before 5 p.m. on Oct. 17 to be counted in the 2025 election.
There are three ways to request a special ballot. Hatters can fill out a PDF form on the city’s website and email it to election@medicinehat.ca. They can also call the Elections Office (403-529-8221) and an election official will fill out the form with the information provided. The final option is by visiting the Elections Office on the third floor of city hall.
Those who request a special ballot have the choice to have the package sent by regular mail or by picking it up at city hall during office hours starting Sept. 23 at 2 p.m.
Special ballots can be returned to the Elections Office or mailed at the resident’s expense, but all must be received before the 5 p.m. deadline on Oct. 17.
New names added to candidates list
More Hatters have officially declared candidacy for the 2025 municipal election.
Former Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes officially submitted his nomination to run for mayor on Aug. 13. Barnes is the third mayoral candidate thus far, alongside Alan Rose and current city councillor Andy McGrogan.
Four new council candidates have filed in Laura Butterfield, Kevin Mason, Kirby Schafer and Kaleb Orge. The four new names bring the council candidate total up to 15. Kelly Allard, Dana Christensen, Gordon Cowan, Ron Fode, Cristopher Hellman, Donald Knudsen, Adam Koch, Pamela Kunz, Clayton Stevens, David Toth and Troy Wason had all previously declared.
The first candidate for a school trustee position has filed, with Chuck Hellman declaring to run for the Medicine Hat Catholic School Board of Education trustee seat.
All candidates must submit their notice of intent and nomination forms to the City Clerk’s office by the end of the nomination period, noon on Sept. 22.
