Elections Calgary to use electronic vote tabulators for 1st time at Olympic plebiscite

Calgarianswill be asked to vote Nov. 13 on whether or not they want to host the 2026 Winter Olympics.

• Calgary Olympic plebiscite: What you need to know to vote and be informed

The city says it's ready for the process, and it's bringing in some new technology for the occasion.

It's the first plebiscite since 1998 one that was part of a general election and the first standaloneplebiscite as far as anyone can remember. Not even Election Calgary's returning officer, Laura Kennedy, knewthe last time one took place.

• Here's a breakdown of what it would cost to host the 2026 Winter Olympics in Calgary

The vote is non-binding, meaning city council could choose to ignore the results.

Voters will be asked to mark one of two options:

• I am for Calgary hosting.
• I am against Calgary hosting.

New voting machines

New for the plebiscite is the use of vote tabulating machines, versus the old hand-counted method previously used. The machines are used in municipalities across Alberta, Kennedy said.

She says the machines have been tested and she's confident there won't be any technical glitches.

"It went through three days of testing and they've now been locked down in preparation for the vote," said Kennedy.

Results will be announced the night of Nov.13, but there won't be running tallies as there are during regular elections. Kennedy says the final results will be revealed by at least 10 p.m.

Lessons learned from 2017

Kennedy says they've already received 5,000 mail-in ballot requests, more than for last year's election.

She says that doesn't necessarily indicate greater turnout but notes Elections Calgaryis prepared for an onslaught. Kennedy says Elections Calgary has learned from the 2017 election that featured long waits and a shortage of ballots.

"Early on, I identified some of the issues that happened in 2017. I obtained the number of eligible voters in Calgary from Elections Alberta and their list indicated that there was 765,000-plus eligible voters in Calgary versus the 666,000 that we prepared for last year," said Kennedy.

• Calgary council approves non-binding Olympics plebiscite with question

"So we are prepared for all 100 per cent of those 765,000 voters to come out and vote and we have more ballots than we need."

There will be voting stations in every ward, and advance polling is available this Tuesday and Wednesday (Nov. 6-7)across the city.

More information on where, when and how to vote is available on the Elections Calgary website.

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