Many Calgary voters still undecided as election day nears: political scientist

As Calgarians decide who they will vote for in the 2025 Muncipal Election, Elections Calgary is putting the final touches on their counting centre.

Lori Williams, an associate professor of policy studies at Mount Royal University, says Monday’s municipal election in Calgary will be “very close.”

“We have a large number of people that are still undecided, and the polling very interestingly is showing that people have more than one candidate for mayor that they’re considering,” she said Sunday.

As such, Williams believes it’s going to come down to last-minute decisions for some voters.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

“It’s different than other elections in that it doesn’t seem that people are really making up their minds. There are a lot of questions, perhaps a number of potentially acceptable candidates but no truly inspirational candidates rising above others.”

Williams noted that if incumbent mayoral candidate Jyoti Gondek is defeated, it will be something Calgary hasn’t seen since the 1980s.

“We also see the possibility of very low [voter] turnout and somebody winning this election and becoming the mayor with less than 30 per cent of the vote.”

Ridings to keep an eye on

Williams says there are a number of Calgary ridings that will be interesting to watch, including Ward 1, Ward 4, Ward 8, Ward 9, Ward 12 and Ward 14.

“We’ve got a large number of wards where we don’t know what’s going to happen with them,” she said.

Key election issues

Williams says while things have shifted slightly since the start of the campaign, issues of affordability, municipal taxes, infrastructure and safety – including Calgary Transit – remain front and centre.

“I think an effective, functioning council is very important to Calgarians as well,” she said. “That’s part of what makes this such a difficult race for people.”

“There seems to be an appetite for people to have candidates that will work well together – that have a track record of working together – and I think that people are looking pretty closely at that.”

Will changes to counting procedures change anything?

This year, Alberta will not see the use of electronic vote tabulators. Instead, ballots will be counted by hand.

“It is going to make a difference everywhere,” Williams said. “Every municipality is going to have higher costs associated with actually just running this election – and that is significant and a concern.”

“What it means is that in places like Calgary and Edmonton, we probably won’t know all of the results on election night.”