Advance voting opens Tuesday in the Calgary-Shaw provincial byelection. Elections Alberta lists one advance voting location in the riding: 1000 Sundance, at 15 Sunpark Plaza S.E. It will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day from Sept. 8 to 12. The location is accessible. More information is available on Elections Alberta’s Calgary-Shaw byelection page. Five candidates are running to replace former United Conservative MLA Rebecca Schulz, who resigned May 15. They are United Conservative Mike Derry, New Democrat Kyle Campbell, Progressive Tory Kyle Joseph, Liberal John Roggeveen and Independent Rolly Ashdown. Recent results point to the UCP and NDP as the main contest. Schulz won 56.34 per cent of the vote in 2023, while NDP candidate David Cloutier received 42.71 per cent. The UCP margin was 3,379 votes, or 13.63 percentage points. That was considerably closer than the 2019 election, when Schulz received 65.32 per cent and NDP candidate Graham Sucha took 25.62 per cent. The NDP increased its share of the vote by about 17 percentage points between the two elections, while the UCP’s margin fell from nearly 40 points to less than 14. The byelection also comes five weeks before Alberta’s Oct. 19 referendum. One of the 10 referendum questions asks voters whether Alberta should remain in Canada or begin the constitutional process toward a binding separation referendum. The referendum could become a factor as Calgary-Shaw voters choose among candidates from the governing UCP, the Opposition NDP and three other parties or independent options. Election day is Monday, Sept. 14.
