Low Turnout in Advance Polls in Riding Where Smith Is Seeking a Seat in Alberta Legislature

Danielle Smith after being chosen as the new leader of the United Conservative Party and next Alberta premier, in Calgary on Oct. 6, 2022. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

Turnout was low in the advance polls for the Brooks-Medicine Hat provincial byelection in which Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is seeking a seat.

Smith announced she would run in the southern Alberta riding on Oct. 8, just two days after she won the premiership, and after MLA Michaela Fry resigned and encouraged the new United Conservative Party (UCP) leader to run in her riding.

According to Elections Alberta, 12.4 percent of eligible voters, or 4,231 people, have cast their ballot in advanced and special polls, which ran from Nov. 1 to 5. In the 2019 general election won by Frey, 30 percent (7,538) of eligible voters cast an early ballot.

Same day voting will occur on Nov. 8.

A total of 34,060 people are eligible to vote, just a few less than the 34,297 voters eligible in 2019 when Frey won with 60.7 percent of the votes. NDP candidate Lynn MacWilliam came second with 17.9 percent of the vote.

Smith is running against NDP candidate Gwendoline Dirk, Alberta Party candidate Barry Morishita, Independence Party of Alberta candidate Bob Blayone, and Wildrose Independence Party candidate Jeevan Mangat.

During the UCP leadership race, Smith was the only one of the seven leadership candidates who did not have a seat in the legislature.

Debate

The candidates in the Brooks-Medicine Hat riding have already sparred in a few debates. Smith has positioned herself as someone in a decision-making role. She’s also spoken about the need for healthcare reform to reduce ambulance and emergency room wait times.

In a debate on Oct. 2, candidates were asked how they would improve Alberta’s environmental social governance (ESG) ratings.

Smith said Ottawa’s hostility to Alberta’s oil and gas industry emerged from the “extreme left” policies of ESG. She advocated for the province’s clean LNG, the hydrogen economy to lower emissions, and for Alberta’s work on carbon tech to capture carbon dioxide.

During most of the leadership race, Smith said she would run in her home riding of Livingstone-Macleod, an electoral district currently represented by UCP MLA Roger Reid, who won his seat with over 70 percent of voters’ support in 2019.

But Reid showed no indications of stepping aside for the new premier—until he suddenly dropped out on Nov. 1, the morning after the Oct. 31 candidate entry deadline for the upcoming Spring 2023 provincial election.

“While I hoped to serve a second term, I no longer feel it is possible for me to do so,” Reid said in a statement.