Undecided and apathetic: Calgary voters seek clarity in final days of election campaign

Calgary's civic election is days away but it seems few people are interested—advance voting is down and polls show many are unsure who to vote for.

Calgary’s municipal election is just days away, but low advance voter turnout and an undecided electorate mark what has been a mostly slow and sleepy campaign.

While election signs are nearly everywhere in the city, interest in the campaign doesn’t seem to be there, says pollster Janet Brown.

“It’s kind of a Seinfeld election. It’s an election about nothing,” Brown said.

“I think people have issue fatigue. They hear so much about Donald Trump, so much about Danielle Smith and I think voters are really just finding it hard to find the bandwidth to tap into this election.”

Advance voting wrapped up over the long weekend, and despite occasional long lines at some polling stations, numbers dropped overall.

Elections Calgary reported just over 96,500 voted early over the six days this year.

That’s down from the 141,329 advance voters in 2021.

Mayoral candidates notice the voter apathy.

“I think it’s important to remember that so many Calgarians right now are struggling with the teacher strike,” said Jyoti Gondek, who is seeking a second term as mayor, “and, frankly, I don’t blame them for being distracted from this election.”

Gondek says provincial issues, such as the separation question and efforts to gather signatures for citizen petitions, are also taking the focus away from the municipal election.

“This election really matters. It matters for so many reasons. It’s not just about the future of our city in the next four years. The next mayor is going to be here to welcome the two million Calgarians. And if we don’t have a plan around how we can provide for the safety, for the affordability, this is a huge challenge,” said Jeromy Farkas, who is again running to be mayor.

“My call to action for Calgarians is to get involved. Get involved, potentially, as a volunteer; get involved, potentially, with a campaign; but make sure that you get out to vote,” he said.

Recent polling shows a tight race for mayor, but just over a third of Calgarians are undecided on who to vote for.

An online poll from Janet Brown Opinion Research, done for CBC, shows Farkas leading with 27 per cent of support among decided voters.

Gondek and Sonya Sharp are tied, with 23 per cent of respondents intending to vote for them.

Jeff Davison has 16 per cent support and Brian Thiessen has eight per cent.

“Years from now, I’ll look back on this poll, and I think the most memorable thing about it (will be) how high the undecideds were,” said Brown.

“And it’s not just my poll; we see that advance vote numbers are down. We see that sort of participation online and in forums is down. There is just so much going on right now.”

Election day is Oct. 20.

CTV News Calgary will have complete coverage of results, analysis and reaction online on election night and live on television at 11 p.m.