In less than one week, Red Deerians will head to the polls to elect a mayor, eight City councillors as well as school board officials for both the Red Deer Public and Red Deer Catholic divisions.
Election day runs Oct. 16th with voting stations open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
In total 29 candidates put their names forward for City council and two candidates are running for mayor. There are also 16 candidates running for Red Deer Public School trustee and six candidates for trustee in the Red Deer Catholic division.
“What we want voters to know is to not just speak out but to show up. We want them to get out and let us know what they want for their community. This is their time to influence,” said Frieda McDougall, returning officer for the City of Red Deer.
Candidates for mayor include current Mayor Tara Veer and Sean Burke.
Candidates for council include Sam Bergeron, Incumbent Buck Buchanan, Valdene Callin, Matt Chapin, Michael Dawe, Robert Friss, Calvin Goulet-Jones, Jason Habuza, Incumbent Tanya Handley, Vesna Higham, Ted Johnson, Incumbent Ken Johnston, Cory Kingsfield, Jim Kristinson, Incumbent Lawrence Lee, Kris Maciborsky, Doug Manderville, Bobbi McCoy, Ian Miller, Jeremy Moore, Rick More, Incumbent Lynne Mulder, Bayo Nshombo Bayongwa, Matt Slubik, Jordy Smith, Brice Unland, Jonathan Wieler, Incumbent Frank Wong and Incumbent Dianne Wyntjes.
Candidates running for Red Deer Public School Trustee include Nicole Buchanan, Matt Chapin, Jason Chilibeck, Bill Christie, Dick Lemke, Dianne Mcaulay, Bev Manning, Patrick O’Connor, Ben Ordman, Cathy Peacocke, Angela Sommers, Bill Stuebing, Jaelene Tweedle, Jim Watters, Chris Woods and Laurette Woodward.
Candidates running for Red Deer Catholic School Trustee include Anne Marie Watson, Adriana LaGrange, Cynthia Leyson, Kim Pasula, Murray Hollman and Carlene Smith.
Meanwhile, three advance polls have been held and voters are taking advantage of the advance vote option this year with an increase in the number of ballots cast over the last municipal election in 2013.
There are two dates remaining for the advance vote which include Oct. 13th and Oct. 14th both from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery.
To date 1,058 electors have cast their ballots in advance polls held over the last two weeks. This is an increase over the 2013 advance vote totals from the same time frame which saw 1,005 people vote.
Officials have said there are no additional qualifications, restrictions or requirements to participate in the advance vote other than being eligible to vote.
To be eligible to vote, an elector must be at least 18 years old, a Canadian citizen, have lived in Alberta for the last six consecutive months immediately preceding election day (since April 16th, 2017) and a resident of the City of Red Deer on election day. Voters must provide proof of identification that shows both their name and current address.
For more information about the candidates running in the municipal election as well as our coverage of the election forums, visit http://www.reddeerexpress.com/tag/rdvotes/.
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