In the News

Advance polls open to stream of voters

Interest in the first day of advance polling was nearly double that of the last civic election.

Lines snaked around advanced polling stations Wednesday, which saw 3,020 people cast their ballot ahead of the Oct. 18 election — nearly twice the 1,616 voters who showed up on the first day three years ago.

“We expected it to be up because last time was the first time people could go to the advanced vote without having to be away (on election day) or something,” said Barb Clifford, the city’s chief returning officer.

Iphone app offers election info

For voters who don't carry around pamphlets on where to cast their ballot, the city has unveiled a 2010 general election iPhone app.

"This app is meant to complement other sources for election information, including news stories, calgary.ca,the city's news blog and videos. We hope that it's just one more way to help Calgarians stay informed about the civic election," said Barbara Clifford, the city's returning officer.

Using the application, residents will be able to determine whether they're an eligible voter, find their voting station, who the candidates are and any contact information candidates have submitted to the elections office.

City of Calgary Election iPhone App Review

I’ve been having a bit of “back and forth” via email with the City of Calgary’s Deputy City Clerk and Returning Officer for the past couple months.

On July 29 I originally asked her about the possibility of creating a “where to vote” widget, similar to what the City has (or at that point, would have) on their website. My idea was that if the Javascript behind the widget on the City’s site was made public, any candidate or third party such as CalgaryDemocracy.ca or CalgaryPolitics.com could include it on their website. The concept of course being that the easier it is to find out what ward you live in and where you can vote, the more likely we would be to have a higher turnout.

City unveils 2010 Municipal Election IPhone App

If you want municipal election news from the City of Calgary, there's now "an app for that". The city has rolled out its 2010 General Election I-Phone App, which includes videos and blogs. This is the first election where the technology has been utilized by the city.

The app also allows users to share stories on Facebook and Twitter and can be downloaded through I-Tunes. More information on the technology can be found at http://www.calgary.ca/election.

O'Brien Brings Campaign to Fingertips

If you are trying to find more information about Ottawa's Mayor, there is now an app for that. Larry O'Brien unveiled the Apple program during a Carleton University event.

During the first day of advance voting, he stressed the importance of youth involvement in the democratic process.