Six Central Alberta communities saw voter turnouts of 30 per cent or more during last week’s municipal elections.
In Rimbey, officials did not provide the number of eligible voters but confirmed 974 ballots were cast and estimated a 41 per cent voter turnout.
During the 2010 civic election, the entire Rimbey council was unseated when 1,211 or nearly half the town’s population of 2,500 voted.
Penhold had 768 ballots cast out of 1,850 eligible voters for a turnout of 41.5 per cent.
Lacombe followed closely with 3,294 out of 8,800 eligible voters casting ballots for a 37.4 per cent voter turnout.
Three years ago, 2,932 ballots were cast out of an estimated 8,945 eligible voters for a lower turnout of 32.8 per cent.
In Red Deer, a total of 20,364 out of 63,979 eligible voters went to the polls for a 31.83 per cent turnout, up seven percentage points from three years ago.
In Red Deer County, 2,855 ballots were cast out of 9,500 eligible voters for a 30 per cent turnout, compared to 31 per cent in 2010.
A total of 2,855 out of 9,500 eligible voters cast ballots in Sylvan Lake for a 30 per cent voter turnout, down slightly from 31 per cent of voters in 2010.
At the other end of the spectrum, 769 out of 4,579 eligible voters cast ballots in Blackfalds, for 16.79 per cent turnout, a seven percentage-point drop from three years ago.
In Innisfail, 1,473 out of 5,676 eligible voters cast ballots for a 26 per cent voter turnout, a seven percentage-point drop from 2010.
A total of 1,423 out of 5,300 eligible voters cast ballots in Rocky Mountain House, for a 26.8 per cent voter turnout.
In Stettler, there were 1,178 out of 4,504 eligible voters for a 26.15 per cent voter turnout.
In Olds, 1,858 out of 6,525 eligible voters, or 28 per cent, cast ballots.
No numbers were provided for Ponoka.
The next municipal election is scheduled for October 2017.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com