With just over a week to go until election day some voters are already casting their ballots.
Advance polls for the municipal election opened Thursday for voters who are occupied on Oct. 18, and there will be more this coming week.
Chris Belke, the city’s returning officer, said the city wants to make it easy for people to vote.
“There are some situations where, for various reasons people won’t be able to vote on that particular day so we try to accommodate that if we can and give them options.”
An advance poll will be open Saturday between 9 a.m. and 12 noon as well as Tuesday and Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. and next Saturday, Oct. 16 between 9 a.m. and 12 noon.
In the 2007 election just 1,341 votes were cast at advance polls, through mail-in ballots or institutional polls, with the vast majority of voters waiting until election day, Belke said.
At the advance poll on Thursday, there was a steady flow of people coming and going from the voting booth on the third floor of St. Albert Place.
Several voters indicated they were unhappy and came looking for a change.
“I am very dissatisfied with how council has been operating for the past three years,” said resident Ray Corner. “I think it is time for some new blood.”
Another resident, James Gysen, said he hadn’t been in St. Albert for the last election but made a point of learning about the issues for this election.
He said high property taxes were a major motivator driving him at the polls.
“The tax issue is obviously a big one in everybody’s eye.”
Robert O’Handley, who also cast his vote Thursday night, said he didn’t believe there were any major issues in this campaign, but felt it was important to cast a ballot.
“I don’t think there are really any burning issues,” he said. “I am exercising my right to vote.”
To cast a ballot, either on election day or at an advance poll, voters have to be 18 years old and a Canadian citizen.
They also have to have lived in Alberta for more than six months and be a resident of St. Albert on the day they are casting a ballot.
Voters do not have to bring identification to the polls, but do have to sign a voting register affirming their eligibility.
Belke said any false information on a voting register is taken very seriously.
“If you make a false statement it is a legal offence punishable by law and it is something that governments take pretty seriously.”
It’s a two-way race for mayor with Shelley Biermanski challenging incumbent Nolan Crouse. Thirteen people are running for council seats, eight are vying for Protestant trustee and 10 are seeking a spot on the Catholic board.
For in-depth coverage visit the Gazette’s election section at www.stalbertgazette.com.
