Today is my birthday, and there is one thing you can all do for me that would make me the happiest clam in the ocean.

Vote.

Today, advance polls are open 9AM-8PM in Alberta's provincial election, ahead of the final election day on Tuesday, May 5th (9AM-8PM as well).

For those of you who are concerned with watching the Flames play their hockey game at home, now is a good time to get this out of the way so you're not rushing around on Tuesday.

Voting is one of the most important things you should do whenever the opportunity presents itself.  I barely update my blog these days, but I will do so to try to answer some of the questions you might have about why voting is important, and also to respond to some common objections I hear about the voting process.

What effect does the government have on my life anyway?
In point form, some quick things that our provincial government controls:


-  your education
-  your health care
-  how much you pay in taxes
-  your driver's license
-  your liquor and tobacco prices/accessibility
-  your ability to find a job

In other words, the government has a huge effect on your life.  I can guarantee you that the government has a daily effect on the things you buy, the services you use, and the job you go to.  Are you going to take control of your life, or let someone else dictate it for you?

How does my vote matter?
You vote for a person to represent your interests, and your community's interests, to the rest of the province.  You ensure that your complaints are being heard when you cast a vote for the person you think will listen to you and respect you.

In the last byelection, the PC candidate in Calgary West won over his WRP rival by less than 300 votes.  That might sound like a lot, but let me ask you this:  how many Facebook friends do you have?  How many twitter followers?  Is it pretty close to 300?  Maybe more?  Maybe a lot more?

Every vote matters because you and the people in your life matter.  When you encourage yourself and the people around you to vote, you can change an entire election.

OK, but my candidate's party is never going to win anyway!
So?  What matters is if you think your candidate is going to represent your interests.  The ruling party may have voting power in the Legislature, but every MLA has an opportunity at one point or another to address their concerns to the government.

If you need more proof of how public pressure and a few MLAs in opposition can make a difference, look no further than when the government passed leglislation on GSAs.  The government, strictly speaking, did not HAVE to do that.  But they did it because a handful of minority MLAs, mainly Liberals, stood up and made their voices heard.  They galvanized the public and made sure the government heard the public too.

They didn't have to win the election.  They just had to listen to the people they represent.

But I don't like any of the parties!
There are NINE PARTIES running in this election.  To be fair, not all of them are running candidates in every riding, but three are, and they represent a broad spectrum of opinions between them:  The PCs, the NDP, and the WRP.

The issues are complicated, yes, and you may not find someone who agrees with you on every little thing.  But you should absolutely exhaust every option, try to find compromise, and cast your vote for the person who BEST represents your interests.

If, ultimately, you still feel that none of the candidates in your riding represent your interests, for whatever reason, you should still vote.  And spoil your ballot.

Spoiled ballots are counted and tallied just as every vote for a candidate is.  If a significant portion of voters were to spoil their ballots in a riding, that would send a message that you feel your interests are not being represented fairly.  The winning candidate would be wise to address this demographic, because they will need their support if they expect to continue governing.

Now, a couple of common complaints I hear about the voting process:

What if I don't have a piece of ID?
If you are on the list of Electors, either from the last time you voted or the last time you filed your taxes, you do not need ID to vote.

If you are not on the list of Electors, you still do not need ID.  You can substitute two pieces of approved material from the list at this link.  These include things like Bank/Credit Card statements, personal cheques, correspondence issued by a school/university/college (great for young students with no driver's licenses), and much, much more.

But voting takes too long!  I don't have the time
From your arrival time at the station, voting literally takes a matter of minutes, even if you are not on the list of Electors.  In the Calgary area alone, there are at minimum 6 voting stations per riding.  The smallest riding, Highwood, has 6 polling stations for approximately 2,000 people.  That is roughly 333 people spread across 5 days of voting, for 67 people per day.  The stations are open 9AM-8PM, or 11 hours.  That's 6 people per hour.  Even if we assume normal peak periods from work days, etc., you are NOT going to see huge lineups at the polling stations.  Voting DOES NOT TAKE LONG.

If your work day extends over the election day, your employer is required to give you three consecutive hours of time to vote.  As the polls are open 9AM-8PM, this means that if you either start your day at noon (thus giving you a window of 9AM-12PM), or end your day at 5PM (thus giving you a window of 5PM-8PM), you are not entitled to this time off.

If, however, your work extends over these hours in any way that does not give you three CONSECUTIVE HOURS, your employer must grant you the time in some way to allow you to vote.



Further answers to frequently asked questions may be found here, on Election Alberta's website.



The polls suggest this will be one of the closest elections in Alberta's history, and could change the shape of our province for years to come.  Only your vote decide the course we take.

Vote for the Progressive Conservative Party.  Jim Prentice's budget may be a hard pill to swallow, but they're making the right, responsible choices while protecting our industry, small businesses and heritage.

Vote for the Wildrose Party.  They are the only party determined to hold the line on taxes, and will cut the areas that the other parties refuse to touch.  They promise to find places to trim while keeping your services intact.

Vote for the New Democratic Party.  It's high time we ditched the flat tax rate and started taxing those who can afford it.  We deserve better services, and we have to find money to pay for them.

Vote for the Liberal Party.  You agree that mandatory vaccination would be one way to send a message that you don't support anti-vaxxers.  And the universal daycare/kindergarten system would be great for your kids.

Vote for the Green Party.  Everyone else is ignoring the environment.  Only the Green Party is committed to having our province meet carbon emissions targets and diversifying our energy industry.

Vote for the Alberta Party.  They've been campaigning as a voice of moderate progressives, and want to stop subsidizing private schools at the cost of the public school system.  At the same time, they want to protect small businesses by cutting taxes.  They're a good midpoint between the hard lines.


The action you take in a voting booth, a process that literally lasts minutes, can have an impact that lasts a lifetime.  So if you won't do it for my birthday wish, do it for yourself.

Vote.