‘Not rocket science’: Push to open advance polls on Calgary campuses

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — The Calgary municipal election is only three months away, and all signs are pointing to it being a very important election for the future of the city.

But concerns are being raised about a lack of access, particularly on university and college campuses.

The Calgary Student Alliance (CSA) — which includes students’ unions from post-secondary institutions around the city — said advance polls will not be opened on campuses in the week leading up to the Oct. 18 vote, with Elections Calgary citing several reasons.

“Including COVID-19, including ballot availability and distribution, as well as parking and accessibility,” said CSA Chair Marley Gillies outside Historic City Hall in downtown Calgary.

Gillies said this can take opportunities away from students, and further depress turnout.

Ward 8 Councillor Evan Woolley also took part in the press conference on Tuesday, and he shook his head when he heard this was the justification provided.

“I can’t tell you how frustrating some of these things are,” he said. “That rationale doesn’t pass muster.”

Woolley recently questioned city administration about the election, and was also frustrated when they could not provide a target for voter turnout. He said this needs to be a priority so that the vote truly reflects the will of the people in the city.

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“This is not rocket science. This is executing on something we have done before. This is printing costs,” he said. “This is simple stuff, and we’ve done it before. We did it in the last election, this doesn’t cost a lot of money.

“Why don’t we have massive polling stations downtown? Why don’t we have polling stations in universities? We need to bring democracy to where people are, and inherently our system doesn’t do that.”

In 2017, voter turnout was just short of 60 per cent in Calgary — which was the highest in four decades. But there were still issues in certain parts of the city, including downtown areas where many young people live. Advance voting also shot up sharply to nearly 20 per cent of voters casting a ballot ahead of election day in 2017, far surpassing the previous high of just over eight per cent.

Gillies said they are open to working with Elections Calgary to find some solutions, but to this point they have been rebuffed.

“The student associations and the institutions want as much accessibility and opportunity for the students, but also the surrounding community to have the opportunity to vote regardless of where they come from. Campuses have been a really great place to host this before, like we saw in 2017 and the provincial election in 2019, and we want to see it again in 2021.”

Gillies and Woolley agreed that this would also be a boon for staff at the post-secondary institutions, as it would make it easier for them to cast a ballot at the workplace.

Gillies added that with so many important issues on the ballot this year, as many barriers as possible must be removed.

“We’re looking at a couple of referendums, maybe five or six ballots. This is a daunting activity for students who don’t feel like they’re informed or don’t know how or even where to go and vote,” she said. “In order to maximize voter turnout, we need those voting stations — those vote anywhere stations — on our campuses.

“If it’s safe for students to return to campus, then it should be safe to return to the advance voting.”