Mini Rant on Voter Turnout

All right, folks, this is the scoop:  last election in '07, Edmonton's voter turnout was 27%.  Yes, this number is shocking - 73% of the people that could have voted instead left it up to the 152,576 of us that did.  Stick with me here - the mayor got only 65% of the vote.  That's 65% of 27%, remember.   Sure, we've got a city of almost a million, but when you take out children and others not eligible to vote, and then factor in all these numbers - our council is representing a very small few of us.

And if you think it's no big deal to vote, then perhaps you need to have another look 'round the city at all the construction on stuff that wasn't planned right the first time. 

Interactive map to see voter turnout across Alberta in the last three municipal elections.

How Edmonton is organised

We used to have six wards, with two councillors each.  In 2010, Edmonton's ward system changed to twelve wards, with one councillor each.  Easy peasy?  It sure is!  If you want to know which ward you vote for & where to go to do it, all you have to do is type in your address at this link!
Or, you can also look at this ward map of Edmonton.  Or um, look at the millions of signs in your neighbourhood!

Info on your Candidate

Okay, so you should know what ward you're in now.  (Fellow Stadium hoodites - Ward 7 represent!)
I really don't need to reinvent the wheel here, I'm going to go ahead and link you right to the city of Edmonton's page, because they have done all the work for me!  This is a list of all the contact info for candidates in each ward - websites, phone numbers & junk!
City of Edmonton candidates
CTV's site also has ward profiles, candidate bios and video clips.  Love the video clips!
Edmonton Journal also has candidate listings with contact info, including Twitter
Cycle Edmonton has detailed candidate contact info and bicycle Q&A
iNews 880 - organised by ward, click on the photo & you're linked to the candidate site

Info on your School Board Candidate

Find out which school board ward you're in, then you can view contact info for either
public school candidates  or
Catholic school candidates.   These both have websites for candidates in each ward.

Also visit Edmonton Public Schools - awesome website with all the info you need, including videos
and Edmonton Catholic School board for even more election info, or browse candidate info on ShareEdmonton.

Holy links, Batman!

One of my favourite things about this election is the massive amounts of information available everywhere!  It's also one of the most daunting aspects, which is why I'm guiding you to relevant info.

There are approximately a million blogs and websites out there.  It can get kind of interesting if you start reading message boards, you can gauge where people in your ward are leaning. 

630 CHED - election central
CTV - election central, notable for ward profiles
City of Edmonton - election central
Connect2Edmonton - major forum for debates
Cycle Edmonton - cycle-centred election coverage, including candidate Q&A
Edmonton Commons - blogs on issues
Edmonton Journal - election central
Edmonton Politics - blog, forum, comments
Edmonton Public Library - fantastic resource with even more candidate info
iNews880 - election central, easy to follow
ShareEdmonton  - election central
Taxpayer.com - brief survey of all candidates from a tax perspective
The Edmontonian - headlines, opinions, articles
The Unknown Studio - blog
Vue Weekly - newspaper election coverage
Yes! For Edmonton - progressive group of Edmontonians, site has promise

Candidate Debates / Forums

There are lots of forums and debates that have passed & are upcoming, check out the list here:

ShareEdmonton

Also, watch the forums live online, or check out archived video.  Technology is great, folks!  This is when you can see how your candidate handles themselves and what they think about the issues  (and if they look shifty!)

Forum videos

Where do I vote?

Couldn't be simpler!  Type in your address here and the City of Edmonton spits out what ward you're in and the address of your polling station, including a map!