Advance voting underway in Calgary draws large crowds to some locations

Thousands of Calgarians took time out of their Easter weekend to cast a ballot in advance of the April 28 federal election.

Advance voting for the federal election got underway Friday.

There were reports of long lineups of 40 to 50 people at a number of locations as numerous Calgarians tried to take advantage of the early polls, which run from April 18 to April 21, between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. each day.

All of the early voters said they watched the leaders’ debate Thursday night.

“I watched both French and English leadership debates. They were both well-organized and under control. We got to hear a lot of their opinions,” Jennifer Schmidt said, at Westbrook Mall.

When asked whether the debates had any impact on how she was voting, Schmidt sad, “It influenced my way of voting by solidifying who I voted for. Yes.”

Alexander Keil likes advance voting because it’s convenient -- and important.

“It fits with my schedule, number one,” Keil said. “Number two, it’s really important to have my say in this. Just to make a difference.”

When asked why it matters, Keil said, “This election is important because of what we see every day in the news.”

Clifford Hogstead took advantage of the convenience of advance voting as well.

“Its important to get our votes in and we find it convenient to be in early,” Hogstead said.

He said the debate “solidified” his views on who he was voting for.

“Kind of standard fare – both Poilievre and the Liberal leader (Mark Carney) were well-spoken and the NDP leader (Jagmeet Singh) was intrusive with his comments and stuff while other people were talking.“

A number of early voters expressed concern about how Elections Canada is managing the stations.

One voter said at Calgary-Centre, the wait to vote was 45 minutes, and frustrated voters were yelling and swearing at election workers.

The wait at Cedarbrae was 40 minutes, while another advance voter said in an email to CTV that she waited an hour to vote at Kenneth Taylor School in Evanston.

A Reddit thread devoted to advance voting in Calgary reported a variety of wait times, from long lineups outside Joane Cardinal-Schubert High School in Seton to 30 minutes at William Pratt school to five minutes at the Shane Homes YMCA in the northwest.

Most Reddit commenters seemed pleased with the process and excited to see the large turnout.

Elections Canada responds

Saturday morning, Elections Canada sent a statement to CTV News.

After acknowledging the reports of high turnouts and wait times on Day 1, they said, “We do our best to anticipate busy periods, but electors choose their time to vote based on their circumstances. We will continue to make adjustments, when required, over the weekend to address volumes.

They added that, “In preparation for potential higher turnout in this election and the increasing trend to vote earlier, Elections Canada increased the number of voting tables and workers during advanced polls to serve electors.”

It added that extra staff are sent to busy locations, and the list of electors assigned to a table are split, which allows electors to be served by more voting tables.

They said the number of staff at polling locations is “more or less the same as it was” in previous elections.

“Some roles have changed from the past election, where the COVID pandemic brought unique demands, but the number of people available to serve electors is the same.”

Back at Westbrook Mall, for Jennifer Schmidt, the message was simple.

“Canada, get out and vote,” she said.

The election takes place Monday, April 28.

For more information, go here.

With files from CTV’s Tyler Barrow and Kayla Rosen