Only 41.3% of eligible Albertans cast ballots on Monday -- a record low for the province and the worst turnout to elect any current sitting government in the country.
The Progressive Conservatives easily won their 11th consecutive majority government in Alberta, increasing their seat total to 72, while the opposition Liberals and NDP both lost seats, falling to nine and two, respectively.
Some Albertans blamed voting problems -- like being directed to the wrong voting station -- for not being able to cast their ballots.
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http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/albertaelection/story.html?id=353567
Stumble It!
I did personally find that I wasn't on the voter's list even though I had returned the card they mailed me a while ago and asked them to update my address. Also the Elections Alberta website wasn't working when I tried to find my poll, and both times I tried calling the 1-800 number they also provided it was busy. Later the website worked but otherwise I wouldn't have known where to vote. So I can see how people could easily have trouble finding their voting stations just from that. I don't even know if I was at the right one for sure--I went to the one I found on the website, and if it wrong, too bad for me I guess.
Bottom line I don't think our government actually has a mandate to lead, and this will only discourage Albertans who already feel nothing will ever change here.
That raises an interesting question and I was told that the Alberta government may be the equivalant of a rougue state. Wouldn't that be a first?
ther must be something in the elections act, mustn't there?
Dio
People didn't bother to show up and ...too bad let somebody else to decide for you the whiney left wing parties could even get their core supporters to show up.
2004 Election vs 2008
Liberals 261 737 went down to 250 862
NDP 90 829 went down to 81 043
PC 416 886 went up to 501 028
Pathetic opposition leaders combined with pathetic left wing voters....the NDP is dead in Alberta it lost its official part status by dropping from 4 seats to 2....all the unions in Alberta couldn't save his ass...what a joke.
I did personally find that I wasn't on the voter's list even though I had returned the card they mailed me a while ago and asked them to update my address. Also the Elections Alberta website wasn't working when I tried to find my poll, and both times I tried calling the 1-800 number they also provided it was busy. Later the website worked but otherwise I wouldn't have known where to vote. So I can see how people could easily have trouble finding their voting stations just from that. I don't even know if I was at the right one for sure--I went to the one I found on the website, and if it wrong, too bad for me I guess.
Bottom line I don't think our government actually has a mandate to lead, and this will only discourage Albertans who already feel nothing will ever change here.
Votes in Alberta are counted in the same manner in the rest of the country.
Where are we in regaurds to having a reward system or manditory voting? Australia uses mandatory voting. Maybe that is something that we should be looking at.
Yeah sure, let's charge up the cattle prods, that'll make em enthusiastic enough to vote.
You miss the issue entirely. People are not voting because they see no point in it. Voting is a joke. You get to toss an X once every 4 years, and no matter which way that X of your is tossed the exact same outcome materializes. In all the elections I wasted my time voting in, the result would have been identical had I not bothered to show up. The system we have is archaic and BUSTED, don't you get it? The number of people who vote has little to do with which party gets elected, so we may as well let the party hacks and die hards show up and toss their X around, since that's just as good as if everyone did the same thing.
There are many ways to fix the electoral mess and give people a legitimate reason to vote, but stinging them with cattle prods is not one of them and will only make the problem worse than it already is.
"Im all for manditory voting."
Yeah sure, let's charge up the cattle prods, that'll make em enthusiastic enough to vote.
You miss the issue entirely. People are not voting because they see no point in it. Voting is a joke. You get to toss an X once every 4 years, and no matter which way that X of your is tossed the exact same outcome materializes. In all the elections I wasted my time voting in, the result would have been identical had I not bothered to show up. The system we have is archaic and BUSTED, don't you get it? The number of people who vote has little to do with which party gets elected, so we may as well let the party hacks and die hards show up and toss their X around, since that's just as good as if everyone did the same thing.
There are many ways to fix the electoral mess and give people a legitimate reason to vote, but stinging them with cattle prods is not one of them and will only make the problem worse than it already is.
As been mentioned ...go to the polling station have your name crossed of the list than decline your ballot. We know people couldn't be bothered to do that either, because it takes an effort. People don't vote because their to damn lazy to get informed and get off their ass....end of story.
Not all that aware of how things are in Alberta. Just find it doesn't and shouldn't give them a mandate when the turn out is so low.
I don't full agree but the point you brought up I can understand.
Not all that aware of how things are in Alberta. Just find it doesn't and shouldn't give them a mandate when the turn out is so low.
Elections and polls in Alberta are run in the same manner as the rest of the country.
The population of Alberta is transient , they're here for the short time not the long haul therefore they never get involved. Six months residency in Alberta makes you eligible to vote. I would like to know how many people who have been here for less than 3 years did not vote...I'll bet the number is astounding.
I don't full agree but the point you brought up I can understand.
Not all that aware of how things are in Alberta. Just find it doesn't and shouldn't give them a mandate when the turn out is so low.
Elections and polls in Alberta are run in the same manner as the rest of the country.
The population of Alberta is transient , they're here for the short time not the long haul therefore they never get involved. Six months residency in Alberta makes you eligible to vote. I would like to know how many people who have been here for less than 3 years did not vote...I'll bet the number is astounding.Thanks , that clears things some .
But it also meant that the opposition parties didn't have accurate lists of voters to work with for things like getting their own vote out on election day. The Tories, however, just ran a leadership race for their own party, and so had just poured massive resources into identifying and getting out their own voters for that. They probably pooled their own lists of supporters and had a much newer, more accurate list to work from, and simply went about contacting their supporters using the leadership data.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties had to go through pages and pages of bad phone numbers and people who had moved. They had to update their lists the hard way, such as by going door to door, a tedious and extremely time-consuming process.
Considering there were 280,000 new Albertans since the last vote, failing to re-enumerate probably had a huge impact on this election, and might explain the results that so shocked everyone here.
Too bad the NDP and Liberals didn't demand a re-enumeration before this election. Things might have been different.
But it also meant that the opposition parties didn't have accurate lists of voters to work with for things like getting their own vote out on election day. The Tories, however, just ran a leadership race for their own party, and so had just poured massive resources into identifying and getting out their own voters for that. They probably pooled their own lists of supporters and had a much newer, more accurate list to work from, and simply went about contacting their supporters using the leadership data.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties had to go through pages and pages of bad phone numbers and people who had moved. They had to update their lists the hard way, such as by going door to door, a tedious and extremely time-consuming process.
Considering there were 280,000 new Albertans since the last vote, failing to re-enumerate probably had a huge impact on this election, and might explain the results that so shocked everyone here.
Too bad the NDP and Liberals didn't demand a re-enumeration before this election. Things might have been different.
more excuses ..I'm sure the line ups at Tim Hortons were longer...how come the total Liberal votes and NDP dropped what happened to those supporters ? If people were so "pissed" at Alberta why wouldn't they take the time?
2004 Election vs 2008
Liberals 261 737 went down to 250 862
NDP 90 829 went down to 81 043
PC 416 886 went up to 501 028