Alberta provincial election candidates list posted

Alberta’s voters are not choosing a can of meat, but it’s an analogy of what the conundrum will be for some voters.

“Well, would you rather eat canned tuna or canned chicken, or eat nothing at all, we’ll choose one of the canned food options,” John Santos, data scientist at Janet Brown Opinion Research, told CityNews in an interview.

The full list of Alberta provincial election candidates is posted, and if you are planning to cast your ballot for the NDP or UCP, you won’t have a problem finding a candidate in your riding.

But if your political allegiance lies with another party, there might not be a candidate for your party running.

“It might be that they just decided to hold their nose and vote for the lesser of the two evils so to speak, on off the two main parties that they don’t like. Or they might choose to spoil their ballot, or they might even just choose to not show up to the polling station at all,” said Santos.

Santos says it is difficult to tell if the voters who “hold their nose and vote” will make a difference in the election, but it could make a difference in some close races in Calgary.

“Calgary is the battleground in the fact that where we have close races is where the presence or absence of a third party or a minor party could make the difference. It just gets really difficult to say without getting to a very granule level of analysis and talking about riding by riding.”

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If voters do decide to vote for a party that is not their preferred choice, which party will they vote for on election day?

Christine Myatt, senior consultant with New West Public Affairs, says it’s impossible to tell what party is going to speak to an individual’s values.

“I would say that for the more progressive parties on the spectrum, such as the Alberta liberals or the Alberta party. I would expect their votes to go to the NDP as opposed to the UCP, but again, it depends entirely on an individual’s core values,” Myatt added.

She adds Albertans whose preferred party isn’t represented in the slate of candidates in their local riding should still give strong consideration to supporting a party that is, so they can see their values reflected in government.

There are 87 candidates for both the UCP and the NDP, and 41 candidates for the Green Party. The UCP leader is Danielle Smith, the NDP leader is Rachel Notley, and the Green Party leader is Jordan Willkie.

For more information about voting and the candidates, visit the government’s website.