Calgarians will wake up Tuesday morning with Naheed Nenshi as mayor for a third term.
By midnight, CTV News Calgary, Global News Calgary and CBC Calgary, have projected for Nenshi, with the latest polling numbers has Nenshi sitting at 124,543 votes.
Nenshi’s main challenger, Bill Smith, has over 108,600 votes.
The night was not without frustration. Calgary voters expressed their anger on two fronts. Not only were they waiting to vote, with line-ups with 90-minute waits, they were also struggling to see the results.
Elections Calgary’s website was having trouble updating and voters were upset they cannot see updates in real time.
It’s like black Friday for https://t.co/Xm7etDHH5h. Access denied what is going on. #yycvote #yyccc #yycelection @CBCCalgary @CTVCalgary
— Jason D (@Jdyahoo911) October 17, 2017
Watching Calgary vote results trickle in manually like it’s 1978. #yycvote pic.twitter.com/wyyHNplQNL
— Conway Fraser™ (@ConwayFraser) October 17, 2017
Many polling stations across the city have seen long line-ups as voters who arrived by 8 p.m. waited for their chance to cast their ballot.
“It’s like transit during a blizzard.” #Ward14 incumbent councillor @peterdemong on huge voter turnout and long wait times. #yycVote #CJVote
— colin macgillivray (@clin__) October 17, 2017
Voter from St Mary’s Cathedral on 18th Ave says she waited over 90 min to vote with lines inside still long #yycvote #cjvote
— Thomas Bogda (@tpbogda) October 17, 2017
While Calgarians are still waiting to vote, the City of Edmonton has already declared mayoral incumbent Don Iveson as the winner.
First results show that Don Iveson has 73% of the votes. 14/249 stations reporting. #yeg #yegvote
— Edmonton Journal (@edmontonjournal) October 17, 2017
With an hour left before polls closed, voting stations across Calgary had additional shipments of ballots brought in due to high voter turnout.
The City of Calgary tweeted out as of noon in the 2013 election, voter turnout was at 27,302 or just over four per cent. These numbers have been trumped by the advance polls alone for this election, with a total turnout of 74,965 people.
Advanced polls will be counted last, after votes are counted at each station. Up for grabs are mayor, 14 seats on council and seven public school trustee positions.
In 2013 at 12pm (noon) voter turnout was 27,302 or 4.09%. The final turnout for the 2017 Advance Vote was 74,965.
— City of Calgary (@cityofcalgary) October 16, 2017
As reported by Global News and in a very Canadian turn of events, a couple was blocked from voting due to a limping moose in the city’s southeast. The moose caused the parking lot to be closed off, preventing the couple from entering the Elections Calgary in-house voting station.
Calgary police say they received calls about the moose for the Dover Glen Crescent S.E. and 26 Street S.E. areas.
Due to many tight races across the city, many incumbents are left unsure of where they will be Tuesday morning.
Mayoral incumbent Naheed Nenshi is fighting for his seat tonight, with former PC president Bill Smith on his heels, vying for the spot to lead the city.
Every other poll released before election night indicated either Nenshi or Smith ahead of the other by at least 10 points, indicating there is no clear direction in which way the voters will decide.
Coun. Druh Farrell, who has served on council for Ward 7 since 2001, is fighting for her seat with a tight race between her and newcomer Brent Alexander, as shown in a poll released by Common Sense Calgary Oct. 3, showing nearly 29 per cent in favour of Farrell and Alexander with 27 per cent.
In Ward 8, Coun. Evan Woolley, who is seeking his second term on council, is in a close race with Chris Davis, a lawyer by trade, hot on his heels for the seat. In the same Common Sense Calgary poll, Woolley has almost 32 per cent of voter favour while Davis sits at nearly 31 per cent.