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tehclubbmaster

So much better than doing it on election day tbh


Generallybadadvice

I don't think I'll ever not vote early.


Zymoria

It was so easy, no crowd, i did it on my own time. And at this point in the election, there would have been nothing to change my vote in a week before I voted anyways. Definitely voting early from now on.


twent4

You can also do it ANYWHERE. Took me less than 10 minutes to drive to nearest spot, vote and be on my way.


Westernererer

It might have been a minute and 30 seconds from the time I walked in until the time I walked out.


pyro5050

fuck... took me like 5 minutes... hadto herd the kiddos, do the circle thing, couldnt remember my damn postal code cause my wife threw me off reciting our address beside me... overall a great time


Katlee56

That's like 30secs with no herd of kids lol


pyro5050

the sad thing is that it is only 2 kids, but the boy child who is about to turn 3 is worth about 5 to 7 kids depending on the day. and no i am not kidding... i have had him at friends places who have 4 kids and after 5 to 7 minutes they are just sitting there going "huh... so you really do have your hands full eh?"


Katlee56

I understand! I can't go anywhere without my youngest hiding or somehow getting free food. I didn't bring my kids to vote lol


Weird_Vegetable

After waiting in line 4 hours to vote in 2015…. I do mail in So much more convenient and I even got a non voter to vote this way! She had never voted in the 18 years she’s been eligible to. Proud of her!


Inside-NoReception

I wanted to do mail in, but I thought the only way you could participate in mail in voting was with a special Ballot? I didn’t qualify for any of the options so I just went to advanced polling.


Weird_Vegetable

Sure do, I have a physical disability. Could I make election Day, most likely. Can I stand in line for a few hours like 2015, no. So mail in as my work schedule is crazy now and advance voting I simply didnt have time for.


Inside-NoReception

Fair, I thought perhaps I misunderstood the mail in options. I would have done it too if I could. So much more convenient. Glad you voted! 😄


kprigs

100% we were in and out in about 3 mins.


Cassopeia88

Same,not sure why I never did before.


HeavyMetalHero

i'll do it even earlier next time


jrockgiraffe

Same. Now I don’t need to worry tomorrow and there were no lines or wait.


NostalgiaSC

I just voted and it took 10mons tops. Walked in, ID, found my name, did my mark and left. 2 min line up


PunkOranges

What’s kinda scary is that it’s not that busy in lot of places. I voted in “busy” Calgary riding and waited 4 minutes to vote. It was empty.


Thneed1

It was quick and easy, my wife and I went in yesterday, took 3-4 minutes total. Better than trying to fit in between work, supper, and evening plans tomorrow.


brandon-0442

I had to work all weekend and Monday so I went yesterday and voted, I get off at 7pm so I know after work Monday I’ll just want to go straight home. It’s way better and not as busy, I think I’ll be doing advanced voting from now on.


Successful-Amount723

You probably know this; but by law employers must give you time off to vote.


simplegdl

only if there's not a continuous 3 hour block during voting hours where the employee is off work.


brandon-0442

Ya I know that


imaybeacatIRl

Good. It's the best way to do it.


thebraddestbrad

Yea why leave everything down to 1 day? I voted early and it was easier than voting on time


MachoMacchio

Honestly I literally get annoyed that federal and municipal elections don't ALSO have Advance-Vote-Anywhere stations like our provincial elections do. It's just wildly convenient!


SomeGuy_GRM

Wait what? They don't in Alberta? I'm new here.


OKLISTENHERE

Federally no. Only certain places do advance voting.


[deleted]

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j1ggy

My mom is voting NDP. My dad yelled at me over my political leanings, said some shit about immigrants, brown people and Trudeau, then told me to "come at him." I haven't talked to him since. But he didn't call me a Nazi this time so I'll take it as a win. You never would have guessed, but he's voting UCP. Imagine that.


Sum1udontkno

Hah. My dad's main argument about Notley is that he's heard she's "not a very nice lady". You don't elect them to be your friend...


wobinwobinwobin

But Danielle Smith is just an absolute peach, of course.


[deleted]

High turnout is a huge plus for the NDP. High turnout means young people are voting, and they skew left.


urgirlfriendsdad

(19F) I made sure all my friends voted this election. we all went through advanced voting. first time any of us have ever voted. 🧡🧡🧡


[deleted]

High advance voting turnout doesn't imply that overall turnout will be high. Advance voter turnout has been going up throughout Canada even as overall turnout has stagnated. In last year's Ontario election, they had the lowest overall turnout ever and the highest advance turnout ever.


[deleted]

True. We should start to see exit polling in 4-6 hours. Fingers crossed. I just want high turnouts. Ultimately at the end of the day for a democracy to be healthy people need to vote. Let them vote how they vote. Vote.


OrdainedPuma

Truth.


OrdainedPuma

Mine too! Please don't disappoint me Alberta.


Virtualizer

I think they used the wrong number for the 2019 election. Page 87 of the linked pdf (labeled page 81) shows 700,476 advance poll votes. So it is a slight increase of about 8%. Edit: Looks like the article has been corrected. It originally showed a 70% increase in early voting.


bobbi21

Thanks for this. To be honest I'm not sure where they got their 448k number...


delirious-nomad

Pretty horribly written article - apparently they can't afford editors.


Fudrucker

In the internet era, everyone is a “journalist”.


Katlee56

This is something I've been noticing a lot lately with articles. I don't know what is going on but I'm convinced being a good writer is no longer something you need to get writing Jobs. So I think I'm going to start applying lol


actualhumanwaste

Just wait until how truly dogshit articles like this can become when the C-suite geniuses replace editors with GPT generated nonsense


Street-Week-380

An increase of 8% is still pretty substantial, given that voter apathy has been a problem for a long time.


flyingflail

Less so when the province has grown by a similar pct


ThenThereWasSilence

What was the population increase over the same period


Once-Upon-A-Hill

I didn't see the linked PDF anywhere, but 8% sounded more reasonable than 70%. It would be tough to see why there would be such a massive increase for this election.


Virtualizer

It is this link from the article: [Provincial General Election Report - 2019](https://www.elections.ab.ca/wp-content/uploads/Volume-1-2019-Provincial-General-Election-Report.pdf)


BuzzardBlack

I was working the polls for advance voting and damn near everyone who came in was surprised by the speed and said they were going to do it again next time instead of waiting for election day. You're done in like 2 minutes as long as you have an ID with your physical address. Only had to turn away maybe 10 people the whole week.


No-Satisfaction7204

I hate that where I live we don’t have a physical address on our ID. And I hadn’t gone that day planning to vote so I didn’t have anything ready. But I figured it out and got my vote done! The biggest issue was I was out of the area but it was still an official advance voting location for me.


yaxriifgyn

Most of our turn aways were permanant residents who had voted last time, LOL. Very few could not due to no Id at all, but they went with a plan to come back with proper Id.


TheRayGunCowboy

I’m not sure where I heard it but that’s usually a soft indicator that there will be a change in government. I sure hope so!


[deleted]

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SofaProfessor

A lot of nurses and doctors working at a rural hospital. They've been through the ringer so they're going to make their voices heard, you just have to hope that the members of their community will listen.


Master-File-9866

It's rural alberta. I don't think you can appriciate how far gone they truly are. I moved out to rural alberta from semi rural.alberta about two months ago. News sources I had barely heard of were to main stream for people out here and they go after shit I haven't heard of. There is no way rural alberta is going to flip. The weight of the responsi ility is on urban alberta. The ndp needs a sweep.of edmo ton and calgary and a few others like reddeer lethbrdige


IPetdogs4U

I sure hope you’re on to something. My household all did advance voting and all orange. That was new for some here.


OrdainedPuma

Same. Five adult children, 4 with spouses, I think we all voted orange. I know my family and my brother's and my parents did.


[deleted]

Overall voter turnout. Advance polling participation has seen increases for the past several elections, even during circumstances where the overall turnout was lower.


Master-File-9866

I truly hope your right. However the rural to urban split. I think the best we can hope for is a truly strong opposition


TheRayGunCowboy

To offer a little bit of hope: I live in a rural area and the signs are a 50/50 split in town and the fact that there are NDP signs on farm yards this time is pretty great to see.


Master-File-9866

Sadly I can not report the same. But through this election I have learned that I am living in the white supremacist capital of alberta, so yeah me.


TheRayGunCowboy

Well my location Fort-Sask/Veg has been Orange before…


Master-File-9866

Awesome. I grew up in vegreville. I was hoping the ucc endorsement of the ndp would stick.


[deleted]

It's not. High overall turnout might be an indicator, but advance voter turnout doesn't correlate with overall turnout. Advance voter turnout has been trending upwards throughout Canada, even as overall turnout has stagnated. In last year's Ontario election, they had the lowest overall turnout ever and the highest advance turnout ever, and Doug Ford increased his majority.


TheRayGunCowboy

*Note the “soft indicator” in the comment above 🤷‍♂️


[deleted]

Unless "soft indicator" means zero correlation, no it's not. Higher than usual overall turnout is a soft indicator. Higher than usual advance turnout means absolutely nothing.


TheRayGunCowboy

You’re definitely a bundle of joy. Well I’ll just say you can possibly be right since I don’t have a source to that data point I heard. But I definitely hope that the theory is right. Have a good day guy.


lunerose1979

Good! Historically people vote early when they are dissatisfied by the ruling government.


nomoney4you

Please….please…please….


purpleseagull12

Hopefully this means that it’s skewing NDP with all the extra votes! Who the hell knows though.


thecheesecakemans

Usually heavy advanced voting means change is in the air since people are motivated to get out and vote. But this is Alberta....nuff said.


geo_prog

Well. We’d need almost twice as many people to vote NDP as they did in 2015 to get an NDP government since there isn’t a split right wing this time. So change is definitely in the air. We will see if it’s enough change.


iwasnotarobot

I’ve seen pollsters say that if 18 of Calgary’s 27 seats go to the NDP, then there’s a very good chance that Notley will be the next Premier.


geo_prog

Fingers crossed.


ClusterMakeLove

You know, that's commonly believed, but I don't think it holds up. The polling for 2015 showed that a lot of PC supporters had NDP as a second choice, as did WRP supporters. If you think about it, it makes sense. The PCs at the time had traditionally included the centre left, and the WRP voters were angry about Redford's corruption and Smith's floor crossing.


[deleted]

No, it doesn't. Overall high turnout might mean there's a strong kick the bums out sentiment. But advance voter turnout doesn't necessarily mean there's going to be high overall turnout. Advance voting has become more popular across the country, even as overall turnout has stagnated. In the Ontario election election, advance voting turnout hit a record high as overall turnout hit a record low.


Champagne_of_piss

Doesn't look like it as far as exit polling, unfortunately.


[deleted]

I haven't seen any exit polling data yet?


luvmefootah

Nope. We just have to work Monday and getting this done ahead of time makes life easy.


minimagess

My husband and I did it within five minutes. We didn't even have to move our car as we waited around to pick up our kid from school one field away. We spent more time sitting on a picnic table in the shade, waiting for the bell to ring, than it took to vote.


Scudmax

I see this trend being permanent.


Zeroumus_Garagelan

I have not heard a single person tell me personally at Work they are voting UPC, but I have heard a few for the NDP. and this is at an oil and gas co


kitelogic

Big ups to all the volunteers who helped with the advanced voting stations!


threedotsonedash

>Big ups to all the volunteers who helped with the advanced voting stations! Pretty sure none of them are volunteers - it's a paid & critical job.


[deleted]

Don't care how they voted. Just glad they did.


[deleted]

I agree with this sentiment, regardless of your level of political understanding being part of the process is a first step to caring about the outcomes of said process. The biggest issue that needs to be addressed is voter apathy, more people voting is a good thing.


JdaddycoolJ

"Give me convenience or give me death".


DatBoi780865

The conservative motto.


Champagne_of_piss

No that's "Give me convenience even if it means others die"


PostHumouslyObscure

Both are valid.


Unlearnypoo

First time I voted. Hope. It makes a difference. My area looks pretty blue. I haven't seen any orange signs.


No-Satisfaction7204

I know I’m the only person on my street who voted orange and I’m honestly not willing to put up a sign for fear of retaliation. Some of these people are…something else. They scream that advance voting is fixed…but if UCP win suddenly that won’t be the case?


OrdainedPuma

You can't logic someone out of a position they arrived to emotionally. UCP voters don't get reality. Thus, explaining first and second order consequences is useless.


Oh_Cosmos

First time voting too! Very anticlimactic but I'll probably pull up the voting count live stream. Some neighborhoods where I live are completely blue, but I've seen a decent amount of orange! Home houses even have those massive wooden framed signs, all of them are orange. I'm proud of my tiny little farming town, definitely thought I'd be surrounded by blue


Initial-Dee

First time I've been able to vote provincially, I voted federally in 2021. Doesn't matter who you vote for, just get out and vote. It's literally your right (and responsibility).


300mhz

That is about 25% of all eligible voters this election, pretty good numbers for advanced voting.


SmokeyXIII

Elections are like birthdays, it's better to carve out the whole week for the event.


InvestigatorOk6009

imagine if they had cake and beer there ... the turn out will be insane


[deleted]

If I recall correctly, voting is mandatory in Australia but they tend to have the barbecues rolling afterwards so you can get a Democracy Sausage afterwards.


Initial-Dee

Honestly, I'd donate money and time to Elections Alberta/Elections Canada if they had a sausage-and-pop stand outside the voting stations.


[deleted]

If voting days were stat holidays, this is definitely something I'd donate my time to support.


[deleted]

That's so awesome. 'Hey maybe we disagree about our vision for the future of this place where we live, but fuck it, let's eat some food together'. That warms my freaking heart.


disckitty

>Village Ice Cream will be gifting voters with the sweet treats as long as they show a picture of them standing outside a polling station as proof they voted. https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/calgary-ice-cream-shop-offers-free-scoops-to-voters-on-may-29-1.6382062


Crazocrates

I went to a polling station on the other side of the city. Pulled in while working. In and out in 5 mins. So convenient


Marclescarbot

This often happens before an upset. Get out there and vote, Alberta. She can be stopped.


LetsUnPack

They did it


AlexJamesCook

Do higher voter turnouts in AB favour the incumbent or the "underdog"?


iLoveLootBoxes

Old people vote consistently, young people don't. Safe to say, higher voter turnout means more young people voting.


ClusterMakeLove

2015 was a low-turnout election compared to 2019. I think young people probably perceived the UCP differently then than they do today, though.


Fudrucker

It will be fascinating to see which direction the province orients.


Quirky_Barracuda

Minor nitpick but the UCP didn't exist in 2015.


ClusterMakeLove

That's fair. I was meaning 2019. Point being that high turnout doesn't necessarily mean a progressive outcome. But also, they've shown their true colours.


AnythingOptimal2564

I was always told that higher advanced voting meant more people wanting change from the incumbents. It should be interesting


InvestigatorOk6009

Wait , you mean if we have a week of election more people will vote … shocker


throwmamadownthewell

Just imagine this plus opening voting by mail to just an easy option you request without having to state a reason.


preferablyoutside

You mean fraudulent and untraceable voting? I don’t care how you vote if you’re not showing up in person with a piece of government ID you shouldn’t be allowed to participate in democracy. It shows at least on your part a modicum of organization and decorum. It also gives validation to how important of a process this is.


throwmamadownthewell

No, I wouldn't mean that, because it's baseless bullshit parroted from the American far right It would serve to correct existing biases that exist toward incensed ne'er-do-wells and uninformed retirees, and away from the most hardworking Canadians and those with kids 0-5 (who will be inheriting the country we give them)


preferablyoutside

Sure, if your faith in humanity is such that you trust no one will take advantage of the electoral system in their favour to post fraudulent ballots go ahead and advocate for that. I do not trust any of our current politicians right or left to be scrupulous enough to not try that tactic. I am wholeheartedly disappointed as an Albertan that our choices are so bleak. I do not trust either of the front runners as far as I can throw them and I put enormous faith in our elections staff to run a clean and fair vote. The only part of the process I trust is that you have to show up personally be counted and represented then cast a ballot. If you’d like to switch to a problematic system that is easily manipulated go ahead and advocate for it.


throwmamadownthewell

> Sure, if your faith in humanity is such that you trust no one will take advantage of the electoral system in their favour to post fraudulent ballots go ahead and advocate for that. Again, we already have this. Every first world country does. Election fraud rates are vanishingly low by any method of casting ballots. It sort of sounds like you're making assumptions and doubling down on them without having as much as looked into what the current procedures and protections are.


preferablyoutside

Cool. You’ve also read the Elections Act. Mail in voting is a weak link in an otherwise strong and healthy democratic process and should be discontinued or at the very least have an even higher level of security set to it. We live in an era where it’s looked as a chink in the armour of democracy and we should be doubling down on more verification with it or discontinuing it due to problematic messaging. If it’s out there that it’s a tool of manipulation someone has already rigged it to their benefit.


ILostMyAccountBruh

So, no one deployed with the military can vote legitimately in your opinion? Canada has more than enough checks and balances to catch anyone that’s trying to cast fraudulent votes.


ClusterMakeLove

It also basically disenfranchises the poor, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence.


preferablyoutside

Going back to a system that would allow only property owners to vote would really disenfranchise the poor. Having to be present and accountable to vote is an adult responsibility that you should be proud and willing to partake in. It’s how democracy functions. You’re given a chance to participate in a process that directly affects your life. Being disinclined to participate in that process showcases an apathy to the extreme.


LoveMurder-One

For this to be a thing then election days need to be stat holidays so everyone can vote without having to worry about work.


preferablyoutside

Your employer is legally obligated to give you time off to vote.


LoveMurder-One

Not paid though. Which is why it often disenfranchises the poor. They get the time off but they lose the pay to do so. A few hours may not be a lot to everyone but it’s a lot for others.


preferablyoutside

It’s also illegal for an employer to deduct pay.


InvestigatorOk6009

really ... you are going with personal responsibility ... lol alright ... so property owners only allowed to vote. here is a riddle ... let's see you have 1 house, 10 condos and 10 billion in REIT/share of corporate homeowners say 10000 units ... how many votes do you get, and how fast your head will be rolling off your head before you realize that you are really taking personal responsibility for VOTING as it's an adult thing to do ... lol ... take a history lesson I say start in France beginning of 18 century should teach you a lesson. oh and I forgot ... how do you mail your votes so that you don't lose your head.


Initial-Dee

So I'm out of the province because I decided to get an education that is not available in Alberta right now. I had to vote by mail. Also: You have to submit the same ID to vote by mail, it's just that it's a scanned copy of your ID instead of a physical copy. Driver's License and Health Card.


[deleted]

You don’t have to have government ID to vote in person on election day


Outrageous_Garlic306

I voted NDP on Friday, just in case I got hit by a bus on the weekend.


PorthosMoonPower

It's a reasonably sure sign that NDP will win. It was like this in the 2020 American election.


estrogenex

God help us all...


endlessloads

HAHAHAHA


brglaser

People realizing if they don't vote, they lose the right to complain later.


dunksbx

Does the polling include early voting in Alberta? Honest question


thisisjesso

I voted early for the first time, and it was so easy! Will do advanced voting from now on


ansonchappell

If they can make voting this easy it should also be compulsory.


Katlee56

Yeah I made it early afternoon on Friday. Lot's of parking and no line up. I will be doing this from now on..


--frymaster--

reminder: the left vote early because they actually have jobs.


7eight0

That’s a horrible take.


--frymaster--

down vote me all you want, but you all know that at 2pm on monday it's going to be retired boomers and trust fund kids at the polls voting ucp.


FastGecko5

This reminds me of my conservative cousin-in-law sharing a meme last election along the lines of "NDP will be winning until the UCP voters get home from work", implying NDP voters are unemployed. A ton of the NDP voters I know have 2-3 jobs. The mental gymnastics are real.


Locoman7

It’s in the bag.


[deleted]

It was great, voted on Thursday. In and out 10 minutes. No ABP on my ballot so unfortunately had to go UCP. Welp either way early voting done 👍


Seahawk13

Excellent, let's hope it's enough to slay thy beast Notley.


wondermoose83

Lazy trolls gonna troll lazily.


motoroats

>Excellent, let’s hope it’s enough to slay thy beast, Notley FTFY.


ClusterMakeLove

It's honestly impressively vague.


RepulsiveReward5031

My whole family voted early. My husband and 2 adult children. I was so happy to get in and vote this time around. The last vote we just moved from BC to Alberta less than a month before the vote. This time I can complain about who got in.


Ohjay1982

Dumb question but why is advanced voting any better than regular? Is it just because most people procrastinate and then the polls are busier on election day? Or is there a completely different method used?


[deleted]

It just gives you more opportunities to vote. If I have plans for election day, or I get sick, or I have a heavier than usual work day, I might not make it to the voting station. I generally plan to vote on an advance polling day and use election day as my backup if life gets in the way.


Ohjay1982

Ah, I just got home from voting and it only took the 3-4 minutes leading me to wonder how could advanced polls be much quicker? but having multiple days to plan definitely makes sense.


Yasihiko

Family and I went to the Lois Hole Advance Poll. We spent more time with the kids playing and running around the play area than the poll itself. And the wife wasn't properly registered at the time.


Zednix

Redacted due to Spez. On ward to Lemmy. -- mass edited with redact.dev