LiveWire Calgary is bringing the latest results direct from Elections Alberta.
Elections Alberta confirmed the total unofficial results of the advance vote on May 29, saying that the turnout had been 758,550 people.
“For the second election in a row we have seen record-breaking voter turnout during advance voting days,” said Glen Resler, Chief Electoral Officer for Elections Alberta.
Some of the busiest advance voting locations in the province were in Calgary.
Calgary-Acadia with Southcentre Mall, Calgary-Hays at McKenzie Towne Church, Calgary-Edgemont with Foothills Alliance Church, Calgary-Beddington with Huntington Hills Community Hall and Sportsplex, and Calgary-Shaw with Cardel Rec South made up five of the top 10 busiest locations in the province.
Calgary adjacent locations Frank Wills Memorial Hall in Cochrane for Airdrie-Cochrane, and Okotoks Centennial Hall for Highwood were also on the top 10 list.
Only a single location in Edmonton made the top 10.
How these votes are counted
After voting closes at 8 p.m., results will begin to be shared with Elections Alberta from each voting place.
Tabulators are used to count advance ballots, and hand counts are completed for special ballots, election day ballots, and mobile voting place ballots.
Elections Alberta addressed the issue of slow vote counting after polls closed, saying that it is a process that takes some time.
“We’re not seeing any issues at this time, but we understand that people are keen to see the results,” they said.
Live from the headquarters
Calgary-Buffalo Alberta NDP candidate Joe Ceci said that his party had run a campaign in Calgary that kept many of the same volunteers from their 2015 run.
“It’s been a long campaign. We’ve worked really hard as a team, and we’ve come together as a team all across the city,” he said.
“I’ve met so many hundreds, maybe thousands of volunteers who are just fired up for a different way to go forward in this province.”
He said that the party had done a good job of reaching voters, and that spirits were high from the number of signs that had been given out across the city.
Calgary-West UCP candidate Mike Ellis said that he felt a shift at the doors after the May 18 leaders debate. He said that public safety was a big topic at Calgarians’ doors.
“But also affordability, jobs, the economy, ensuring that a conservative government would be best suited to be stewards of a government going into the future – especially when it comes to the economy,” he said.
Battleground constituencies
Calgary-Bow is a battle between former member of Calgary City Council Druh Farrell for the Alberta NDP, and Demetrios Nicolaides for the UCP. Nicolaides served as Minister for Advanced Education.
Calgary-Currie saw UCP candidate Nicholas Milliken, who served as the Minister for Mental Health and Addiction, battling to retain his seat against Alberta NDP candidate Janet Eremenko.
David Pawlowski, brother of Artur Pawlowski and noted Calgary street preacher who was found in contempt of an injunction granted to Alberta Health Services during the pandemic, is also running in the constituency.
First-time Alberta NDP candidate and energy consultant Samir Kayande is running against first-time UCP candidate and lawyer Chris Davis, for the seat that was vacated by former Minister Doug Schweitzer.
Artur Pawlowski, a noted Calgary street preacher who was found in contempt of an injunction granted to Alberta Health Services during the pandemic and has organized anti-drag and anti-transgender protests, is also running in the constituency.
Jason Luan, first elected in 2012 under the PC Party banner and was re-elected under the UCP, is running against Alberta NDP candidate and former Calgary Economic Development vice president Court Ellingson.
Luan served as the Minister for Community and Social Services.
Alberta NDP candidate Nagwan Al-Guneid, who worked in oil and gas and renewable energy, is challenging incumbent UCP candidate Whitney Issik.
Issik served as the Minister of Environment and Parks, and as Associate Minister of Status of Women.
UCP candidate Eric Bouchard was vocal prior to the election about pandemic public health measures, having lost his restaurant business during Covid-19. One tweet was expletive-laden and directed at Calgary city councillor, Gian-Carlo Carra. The Alberta Liberal Party leader, John Roggeveen is also running in this riding.
The Alberta NDP candidate, Venkat Ravulaparthi has worked in computer program design and is currently pursuing a law degree.
This riding is a battle over the direction of healthcare in Alberta, with former Minister of Health Jason Copping, UCP, and the Alberta NDP's Dr. Luanne Metz. Dr. Metz is a University of Calgary professor and globally-recognized medical researcher.
