Changes in legislation resulted in new challenges during election

Cold Lake, AB – Any municipal election is a tremendous undertaking, and the October 2025 municipal election was no exception. 

Council was debriefed during their Tuesday Corporate Priorities Committee Meeting on voter turnout, challenges, and how staff were successfully able to hold the election, given changes made to the Local Authorities Election Act.

“A lot of time and effort goes into holding a municipal election,” said Mayor Bob Mattice. “Many of the components are mandated by the province, and our staff did an excellent job at navigating changes in the legislation.”

Three of the major changes to the Local Authorities Election Act were: prohibiting the use of tabulators (electronic counting machines) to count ballots; mandatory use of a permanent electors list; and expanded eligibility criteria for Special Ballots.

Municipalities were now required to assess voter eligibility in reference to a list of residents who had voted in the municipality in the last provincial election, which resulted in a different number of eligible voters than previous elections. Previously, eligible voters were determined by the City’s most recent census information and municipal population projections.

As a result, the total eligible voters in the City of Cold Lake went down from 11,074 in 2021 to 10,767 in 2025. However, voter turnout was up, rising from 2,780 in 2021 to 3,035 in 2025. Of the 3,035 voters, 62 per cent live in Cold Lake North, 37 per cent live in Cold Lake South, and one per cent live on 4 Wing Cold Lake.

“We always want to see a higher voter turnout,” said Mattice. “And while original numbers appeared to be low, it was nice to see over 3,000 people head to the polls.” 

The cost of running the election remained consistent with the past few elections, at a total of $23,500. The largest cost was contracted election workers, followed by election supplies and advertising.

By not allowing tabulators or electronic vote counters, all votes were counted by hand. This caused a delay for many municipalities in reporting results, including the City of Cold Lake. Staff and contracted election workers began counting ballots once polls closed and the ballot register for the day’s voting was completed. It took approximately eight hours for the votes to be counted and checked to ensure the count was accurate.

“Voters and candidates alike were waiting for results to come through, and we’re thankful for the hard work and dedication shown by those who worked through the night to ensure the count was correct,” said Mattice.

The results were released early in the morning on Oct. 21, 2025 through the City’s social media, website, and directly to candidates by email. The next municipal election will occur in the fall of 2029.

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