News Editorial/Opinion Advance at Spruce Meadows is busy
All those cars are people voting. Quite the engagement. The people who live in Calgary Shaw (and area) are activated.
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u/Verkmeister 1d ago
I went last night 5:20pm, got out at about 7:30pm. Felt bad so many people were freezing outside, they really dropped the ball at this location. The lougheed line was basically instant, not sure why they didn't learn on day one and adjust for more people working the Calgary-Shaw line instead. The walk from the parking lot is quite far as well, lots of older folks or people with walking issues struggling. The one little shuttle they had only helped 6 people at a time so not many people ended up using it.
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u/PatrickWTF 1d ago
Yup, this was probably the worst voting experience I've encountered personally. Here I was thinking that space inside would be massive and that's why they chose it. Crazy how they couldn't find what, 7.5k sqft anywhere else.
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u/AlltheEspresso 1d ago
This is actually so uplifting. Yes, they could’ve moved more people from the lougheed intake to work the Shaw intake. BUT there’s been reports that it hasn’t let up, it’s been a two hour wait since day one. This is the area that just voted an NDP candidate instead of the conservative for the first time. Droves and droves of people are coming out to vote every day which is amazing.
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u/Happeningfish08 23h ago
They can't move people from one riding to the other like that. People are oathed and hired by individual ridings, you can't just move them over
For your information loughheed is doing almost as many voters as shaw. They just have a better process.
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u/Practical-Gur7777 1d ago
There was a massive lineup at 6ish, like at least 100 people, but I live in Calgary-Lougheed and I was in and out in 15 minutes (plus all the time walking). I guess my electoral district either voted a different day or voted in advance! It was crazy to see how many people were there, and I couldn't believe how far it was to actually get from the parking lot to the voting station. I'm proud to see so many people turning out even if it meant waiting in line in the cold and dark
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u/Distinct-Bandicoot-5 19h ago
On a warm day that walk would have been nice but it was cold. Luckily they had a shuttle running to take people from the parking lot.
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u/FarmerPositive9039 1d ago
We waited 2.5 hours to vote on Wednesday when we went at 12:00 pm. But they did say there was a shortage of elections workers at that time. I have never experienced anything like this before to vote! Odd that such a small space was booked and that it’s split with Calgary Lougheed as well. And the walk from the parking lot (we were only allowed to park in lot 7) is very long for anyone with mobility issues. Worth it to vote but disappointed in the planning!
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u/slumasluma 1d ago
We're heading out there right now. Hopefully it's not an hour wait.
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u/Ready-Wallaby5502 1d ago
What's the wait time? Planning on heading out too.
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u/slumasluma 1d ago
It's moving faster than I expected. It looks like about an hour. Definitely less than 2 hours.
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u/piggywiggypoop 1d ago
Two lineups at spruce meadows. lougheed barley a line. Shaw was a shit show.
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u/Minute_Engineer2355 1d ago
I think the concern about voter turnout has been proven wrong. I think we were at a million votes yesterday, from what I've read.
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u/katfin1 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don't understand why this hasn't been on the news. Maybe I've missed it but I've only seen CityNews mention about how its difficult for people to walk from the parking lot. These 1hr to 2.5hr wait times are really unacceptable, especially as most of the wait is outside. We got super lucky the weather this week hasn't been horrible (still cold enough if not prepared).
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u/Mommadarbs 1d ago
We went Wednesday night and it was horrible. There was also no lighting in the parking lot areas once it got dark.
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u/Distinct-Bandicoot-5 19h ago
It was terrible. Spruce was pitch black and very dangerous if you're not familiar with the area.
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u/Eyeronick 1d ago
2 hour wait when I arrived at arrived at 330pm Tuesday, imagine it's worse today. Lougheed was under 10 minutes. Interesting coincidence.
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u/Distinct-Bandicoot-5 19h ago
Lougheed was 10 mins including voting. Shaw was crazy. We waited for someone and realized the best time was right before closing and even then it went until 9:30pm. Shout-out to the workers and the shuttle driver. Fantastic attitude.
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u/NoNameKetchupChips 1d ago
Is this a required voting location? Or can people choose to vote elsewhere? I don't understand why they would have voting set up there, somewhere that can only be accessed by a vehicle.
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u/StetsonTuba8 Millrise 1d ago
Yup, this is the only advanced voting location for both Calgary-Shaw and Calgary-Lougheed
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u/NoNameKetchupChips 1d ago
Thank you for the reply. That's terrible. I hope there is somewhere else for those people to vote on the actual day.
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u/dusty-skeleton-keys 1d ago
There is a different location on the day of but still only one location total for Calgary-Shaw if I remember correctly.
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u/W14x1000 1d ago
I'd bet a lot on it being to prevent people without cars from voting, since in rural AB everyone has cars due to no transit systems
Its 40 minutes walk from the nearest bus stop, i broke my foot earlier this month so if i didnt have family also voting at this location i'd have to get an uber to do advance voting
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u/Final-Yesterday-4799 12h ago
I genuinely wouldn't be surprised. Calgary Shaw just swung NDP in the byelection, and now they only get one voting location that wasn't even served by transit? Luckily the city stepped in and created a temp bus route.
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u/blizzroth Beltline 10h ago
It's bizarre how resources has been distributed. Going by 2021 census data, if we are just sticking to Calgary ridings -- Calgary-Shaw by itself had a voting age population of around 42,000, and they have to share a single polling location with another riding. Calgary-Buffalo, where I live, had a voting age population of around 54,000 and has 3 advanced polling locations.
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u/Baddrivers13 1d ago
Incompetence or they don't want people to be able to vote.
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u/Final-Yesterday-4799 12h ago
Didn't Calgary-Shaw just swing to the NDP in the byelection? And now they only have one voting location that wasn't even served by transit?
I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but if it quacks like a duck...
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u/yycsarah 1d ago
1.5 hours to vote in Calgary Shaw riding today. Great turnout! The elections officials said they’ve been there until 10pm every night so far.
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u/exportedaussie 1d ago
I'm lined up advance voting at Tuscany and coming up on an hour and still not even close to the door to get in, let alone what it's like inside. But my hope is that turnout being high can put this to bed (optimistically)
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u/CheeseSandwich hamburger magician 1d ago
It's crazy how some advance polls have long lines and wait times while at others the waits are minimal. I assume it's down to volume. I didn't wait at all when I voted here in High River.
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u/Smart-Pie7115 10h ago
Some areas are saturated with people who are eligible to vote, whereas others aren’t.
It was pretty fast at Guardian Angel School this morning. I wasn’t overly impressed with how little privacy there was at the tables. It didn’t help that the guy sitting next to me allowed his school aged son to wander the around the table trying to look at my ballot.
When I was a kid, we weren’t allowed to go inside the polling station. We either had to stay home, sit outside in the car, or sit in a separate area under supervision by election officials.
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u/CrazyCanuckUncleBuck Silverado 1d ago
I was there last night, from 5:40 to 7:40pm. I went straight from work, and I kinda wish I brought something to drink because my legs were cramping.
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u/ThisNamesFunny 1d ago
Snuck away to Grace Presbyterian Church during my lunch break today, in and out in 15 minutes, no line. Got lucky!
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u/chaggaya 1d ago
I'm in Calgary West. Went to Westside King's Church last night at about 7pm. No lineup. Took less than 10 minutes. Probably spent more time chatting with the lady handing out the ballots more than anything else! Had to wait for my wife to finish, spoke to the 'greeter' at the entrance. She said it was very busy on day 1, moderately busy day 2, mild on day 3 (when I was there).
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u/Iamnothere69420 23h ago
No 2001 rusted out minivans with Alberta flags? Looks like the votes are going for option 1 on question 10.
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u/Final-Yesterday-4799 12h ago
Sundance was busy but very well organized yesterday, so I was in and out in about 5 minutes
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u/BillBumface 9h ago
FYI, Cavalry FC game today at 2pm so for everyone's benefit try schedule your voting around this, it's going to be a nightmare.
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u/Dan61684 Silverado 1d ago
Two hours sucks but it ain’t gonna stop me from voting.