Polls are now closed in Calgary, here's how to watch election results come in - Action News
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Polls are now closed in Calgary, here's how to watch election results come in

As of 7:30 p.m. MT Monday, polls are closed in Calgary and across Alberta.

Delays in results are expected this year due to a record number of mail-in ballots

A polling station in northwest Calgary on Monday morning. (Mike Symington/CBC)

As of 7:30 p.m. MT Monday, polls are closed in Calgary and across Alberta.

Those in line before that time will still be able to cast their ballots.From the time polls close, it usually takes 30 to 45 minutes before results will begin to be reported.

However, some delays are expected this year due to a record number of mail-in ballots. Those ballots won't begin to be counted until Tuesday and could take days to be tallied, meaning close races may not be called until that count is complete.

Results for each riding will be reported as they come in here.

On Monday morning,polls were running smoothly.

"Piece of cake, took about 30 seconds," said Michael Keegan Raynesafter voting in the northwest community of Montgomery early in the day.

Conservative support has historically been strong in Alberta. The party won 33 of 34 seats in the province in 2019, with a lone Edmonton seat going to the NDP.

An estimated 196,303 Calgarians cast their ballots at advance polls this year, according to Elections Canada. That's close to the last election's tally of 195,231 in 2019.

Elections Canada has yet to break down the number of mail-in votes sent in by region. Those that arrive on election day will still be counted, starting on Tuesday.As of Sunday,1,262,617 special ballot kits had been issued across the countryand923,832 had been returned.

Voting was slightly different this yeardue to the pandemic. For safety, electors were required to weara mask inside polling stations.

Polling stations providedsingle-use pencils, and there were alsohand sanitizer stations and clear physical distancing markers. Election workers satbehind Plexiglas barriers.

"It's just the world we live in these days, I'm used to it," said Tom Smillie regarding the COVID measures in place, after casting his ballot in Calgary on Monday morning.

While some lineups outside polling stations were lengthy due to physical distancing requirements, no significant waits were reported in the city before polls closed.

Lori Williams, an associate professor of political science at Mount Royal University, had said earlier itwasn'tyet known whether the pandemic wouldaffect turnout.

"There's all this uncertainty around safety in the pandemic and that's going to be very significant," she said.

With files from Sarah Rieger