Roughly 140,000 Albertans cast their ballot on the first day of advanced voting Tuesday, more than doubling the number of votes on the first day in the 2015 provincial election.
It was followed up Wednesday with another estimated 136,000 ballots cast, already outdoing the entire 2015 advanced vote by approximately 40,000 ballots.
According to Elections Alberta’s unofficial count, on day one, 107,000 of those advanced vote ballots were cast in the voters’ home electoral districts, with approximately 33,000 cast using the Vote Anywhere privilege.
On the second day of advanced polling, roughly 86,000 in-district votes were counted, while a whopping 50,000 Vote Anywhere ballots were cast, according to Elections Alberta.
Vote Anywhere is a new tool that allows Albertans to cast their vote during the advanced polls anywhere in the province. Those votes will then be counted after polls close on April 16 and added to the respective riding totals.
Calgarians were lined up Tuesday in several locations across the city, including healthy lines at Westbrook Mall in the city’s southwest.
Pearl Sands, along with her husband, took advantage of the ability to Vote Anywhere.
“My husband uses a walker and it’s easier for us vote here at Westbrook Mall,” she said.
While nearly one in five votes were cast outside of one’s electoral district, many were just out to get their ballot in early and it had no impact on their desire to vote.
“I had made my decision to vote some time ago,” said Doreen Halpen.
On the first day of advanced voting in the 2015 Alberta election, roughly 58,000 people lined up to cast their vote.
Voters can still take part in advanced polling as it runs until Saturday.
For more information on how you can vote and the nearest advanced polling location, visit elections.ab.ca.
- with files from Azin Ghaffari
