1 in 4 eligible voters in Alberta cast ballot at advance polling stations, data shows

Nicholas Frew · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 26, 2025 8:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

One successful 4 voters successful Alberta went to the polls up of national predetermination day, and a Calgary riding saw 1 of the highest turnouts successful the country, Elections Canada information shows.

More than 815,000 Albertans formed their ballot astatine beforehand polling stations past weekend, astir 169,000 much radical than successful the past national predetermination successful 2021, according to preliminary counts from Elections Canada, the autarkic bureau that conducts the federal-level votes, released this week.

But the crushed down the summation — and whether it foreshadows a higher elector turnout wide this predetermination — is inactive unclear.

"There does look to beryllium a inclination among Canadians toward voting successful advance, which does marque it antithetic to work the beverage leaves close now," said Michael Wigginton, a governmental subject postdoctoral chap astatine Carleton University successful Ottawa.

"It's precise hard to say, erstwhile looking astatine the advance voter numbers, if they're reflective of predetermination time turnout, oregon if they're conscionable reflective of radical wanting to ballot arsenic aboriginal arsenic possible."

Only definite voters were allowed to formed beforehand ballots from 1920 to 1993, but present beforehand polls are unfastened to each eligible voters, according to Elections Canada's website. An bureau spokesperson told CBC News that the turnouts astatine beforehand polls person accrued each election.

Noting that trend, the bureau accrued the fig of voting tables and workers astatine beforehand polls for this election, the spokesperson said.

More radical whitethorn person showed up to beforehand polling stations this predetermination due to the fact that they were unfastened passim Easter weekend, the spokesperson said.

But they noted that timing was a coincidence: the Canada Elections Act states that beforehand polling stations indispensable lone beryllium unfastened from Friday to Monday, connected the second-last play earlier predetermination day.

Calgary Crowfoot saw 4th-most advance voters successful Canada

Elections Canada reported astir 7.3 cardinal precocious voters this writ play — a caller record.

Data shows much than 33,700 of those voters were from the Calgary Crowfoot riding, successful the city's northwest. That electoral district saw the highest turnout successful Alberta, and fourth-highest crossed Canada's 343 ridings.

The St. Albert-Sturgeon River and Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan ridings were besides among the 19 ridings crossed the state that each reported much than 30,000 voters astatine their beforehand polling stations, information shows.

The Lakeland riding, meanwhile, had 1 of the country's lowest beforehand turnouts, up of lone the Northwest Territories, Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, Labrador and Nunavut constituencies.

Within Alberta, the confederate parts of the state — peculiarly successful Calgary — saw higher turnouts. Ridings successful much municipality areas tended to spot much beforehand voters too, which Wigginton called counterintuitive.

People successful agrarian Alberta mightiness unrecorded further from their polling station, making it little accessible and harder to halt by connected voting day, helium said.

Federal electoral territory boundaries were redrawn successful 2023 to set for the country's colonisation growth, truthful it's not imaginable to accurately comparison turnouts successful each riding to those of the erstwhile election.

Competitive contention a factor?

In past elections, Wigginton noted, advance voter turnout has not ever led to higher elector turnout overall. Data shows that less Canadians voted successful 2021 than successful 2019, for example. 

As of Friday morning, the CBC canvass tracker suggested the Liberals are up of the Conservatives by little than 4 per cent. The NDP are trying to support authoritative enactment status.

People whitethorn beryllium inspired to get their ballot successful erstwhile determination is simply a choky race, Wigginton said.

"Voters, generally, person a consciousness of however competitory they're riding is. So from a axenic rational-choice perspective, they realize, 'Oh, my ballot really mightiness beryllium much decisive than accustomed this election. I should truly crook retired and vote'," helium said.

Monday is predetermination time and polls are 7:30 a.m.–7:30 p.m.