Long waits, ballot shortage mar election night as Calgarians turn out in droves to vote

Calgary voters in some areas faced waits of hours and some polling stations temporarily ran out of ballots amid a municipal election with an unexpectedly tight mayoral race, a slew of open council seats and a campaign that has struggled to stay above the muck.

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The city said it hadan ample supply of ballotsand says more were being delivered to polling stations that had run out or were running low. A list of the polls in question was not released.

According to Elections Calgary, anyone who was in line by the time polling stations were supposed to close, at8 p.m. MT, would still be allowed to vote, even if it took until11 pm.

• City of Calgary live results(Note: The website was having technical difficulties)
• CBC Calgary is bringing you live coverage throughout thenightonline andin radio news updates. We'll also have live updates and analysis in a special electionbroadcastfrom 11 to 11:30 p.m. MT, which you can watch as a Facebook Live onCBC Calgary's Facebook feedand on CBCTV.

City officials said by 6p.m.,157,697 people 34.89 per cent of eligible voters had cast a ballot.In 2013, the voter total at 6p.m. was 148,143.

Earlier in the campaign, three times as many Calgarians turned for advance polls as in the 2013 election, with 74,965 ballots cast over seven days.

There are666,663 registered voters in the city, but more are eligible to cast a ballot if they walk up with the proper identification before polls close at 8 p.m. MT.

Mayoral race

Central to the contest, of course, is the battle for the mayor's chair, where the once-unassailable incumbent Naheed Nenshi is facing a serious threat from former Alberta Progressive Conservative Party president Bill Smith.

• Calgary election 2017: Follow our election day live bloghere
• Calgary election 2017: Full election coverage from CBC Calgary

Depending on which poll you believe, either Smith or Nenshi is way in the lead. The latest polls have a 30-point spread between them.

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AndreChabot, a longtime councillor known as a fiscal hawk,has consistently ranked as the third-place candidate in a field of 10 hopefuls.

Arena, taxes, transit, racism

The campaign started with a debate over a new arena. It spiraled into a political maelstrom when Nenshi announced his vision for a cultural and entertainment district that could include a new rink.

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The Calgary Flames organization countered with a declaration that ithadwalkedaway from negotiations with the city.Eventually, the tit-for-tat dissipated, and attention turned to taxes, transit, racism and blasts from candidates' pasts.

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Nenshi, the first big-city Muslim mayor in Canada, surprised everyone when he first snagged the city's top political job in 2010 and has ridden a wave of popularity ever since. Until recently.

Polls have shown support dropping over the past few months, and the campaign has turned personal in the homestretch, tagging Nenshi as arrogant andunlikable.

The incumbent has railed against the onslaught of anger and racism he says has been directed at his campaign, which led to criticism that he was trying to tie his opponents to that racism.

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Nenshi has been trying to refocus the campaign on policyinstead of personality in the past few days.

Smith, hismain opponent, has kept his policy ideas to a minimum, but faced questions about his plans for the Green LineLRTproject the biggest single infrastructure investment in the city's history when he said it needed a "rethink."

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Smith said rather than constructing expensive downtown infrastructure first and building truncated lines to the north and southeast, aswasapproved by council, the $4.6 billion first phase should involve a longerbuild-outin one direction or the other. He wouldn't say which direction would take precedence.

He's also had to deal with questions about his past financial and legal dealings, whenCBCNews revealed bailiffs were prepared to seize property from hisbusinessand that he was sued by an employer for $2.2 million in 2010.

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Both Nenshi and Smith have battled over taxes and how much the municipal rate has actually increased under Nenshi's reign, although neither are promising any tax cuts.

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• The 'dark math' of property taxes explained

Council races

In the crowded field of council candidates, four incumbents have decided not to run, while another has moved into a new ward after boundaries were redrawn.That leaves a lot of room for new faces.

Some incumbents who do remain face strong challengers almost universally focused on the need for new blood at the council table, hoping to ride a wave of discontent over the state of the city and the economy.

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The wardraces have also seen some controversy.

In Ward 1,incumbentWardSutherland faced criticismfor comments he made at a public forum referring to "Johnny Jew from New York" asa hypothetical artist hired under the city's publicart policy.

In Ward 5, it was revealed one candidate had numerous run-ins with the law.

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Even the generally sleepy race for school board trustees has seen some fireworks, with one candidate facing backlash after trying to link the attack in Edmonton that injured five people to the LGBTQ community.

There's also been attention focused on a slate of conservative candidates running under the Students Count banner something United Conservative Party leadership hopeful Jason Kenney tweeted his support for.

Massive advance turnout

During advance polling, Calgarians smashed previous records, drawn in part by new initiatives like drive-up voting stations.

Over seven days of advance voting, 74,965 ballots were cast. In the 2013 election, 22,410 ballots were cast in early voting. In 2010, the final turnout at advance polls was 23,721.

• Advance polls draw 3 times more voters

Those who haven't already marked an X will have to do so at their assigned voting station between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

A list of how, when and where to vote can be found on the Elections Calgary website, along with information on all the candidates running in each ward.

CBC Calgary will bring you live coverage throughout thenightonline includinglive results once polls closeandin radio news updates. We'll also have live updates and analysis in a special election special broadcast from 11 to 11:30 p.m. MT as a Facebook Live on CBC Calgary's Facebook feedand on CBC TV.

• Follow along with our election day live blog below. Onour mobileapp?You can alsosee ithere.