Drive-thru advance poll running at Exhibition Park
By Lethbridge Herald on October 8, 2021.
Herald photo by Al Beeber
Vehicles line up outside Exhibition Park Friday as voters turn up in droves for the drive-through advance poll that continues today and Sunday from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.Al Beeber
Lethbridge Herald
abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
Lethbridge residents are being served up a slew of options at a drive-thru operating this weekend at Exhibition Park.
But this drive-thru isn’t serving burgers and fries: its menu features 32 city council and six mayoral candidates.
The drive-through advance polling station, accessible through the east entrance of Exhibition Park near Bully’s, runs from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. today and Sunday.
On the first day of voting Friday, vehicles were lined up onto the inside lane of westbound South Parkside Drive as voters turned out to cast ballots before the Thanksgiving weekend.
The city stated Saturday morning a new one-day advance polling record was set Friday at Exhibition Park with 1,420 ballots cast there.
People interested in wait times can find out in advance by checking the City’s website at lethbridge.ca
Returning officer Bonnie Hilford told media Friday that “we thank Lethbridgians for their patience today on this new initiative,” she said of the long line.
Hilford said the first two days of advance polling attracted 1,255 voters, compared to 543 in 2017, more than double the turnout for the most recent municipal election.
“That’s very encouraging,” Hilford said.
“We’re hoping people have patience lining up,” she added.
“I think people are quite informed this election,” she said as a possible reason for the strong early turnout.
“They’ve been watching the videos, they’ve been reading a lot, so they want to come out, they want to make their decision. With COVID still lingering, people want to have a safe place to vote and in their car, they feel that’s the place to do it,” Hilford said.
The drive-thru option may also operate on Election Day, Hilford added.
“We are considering doing this on Election Day; we just wanted to see how it went this weekend, if it’s popular. And it is popular. If people have a good experience with it, then we may look at doing it on Election Day for sure,” she said.
With horse racing and a farmers market also running this weekend at Exhibition Park, Hilford said a scrum was being held Friday to discuss what can be done to alleviate the lineups and “see what can be done to make things easier for people coming to vote and people that are doing other business here at the Exhibition. We want to make sure that everybody has a good experience and can get where they need to be,” she said.
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It is great to see that people are coming out to vote, showing they want our city taken back in so many areas.
I am not to sure of how ‘informed’ they are, as stated, but I do think they are tired of seeing their tax dollars flushed down the toilet from encouraging addicts to continue destroying our city or the tens of millions blown on the art’s when people are afraid to come out to use those venues.
To be very clear, you do not have to fill in all the blanks on the form. If you only know enough about 4 Councilors, then only pick those four, making sure the ‘guess vote’ you would pick doesn’t put the wrong person in that chair. No one says you have to fill out all the whole form, just pick what you want, even if it is only one or two of the candidates.
There are a few that just should not be in government, period! Vote, but do it using what knowledge you have. It is your right to vote, so use it because there are many countries do not have those rights!
Remember that putting the right people in place with save your valuable tax dollars, municipally, provincially and federally. Every dollar that the government pays out for what ever reason came from taxing the people of this country! It is your money!!