'We Got Lucky': Banff Staff Warns of Chaos Without Election Reform

A recent review showed Banff’s 2025 municipal election cost far more than the town’s budget under Alberta’s new election rules, including building a Permanent Electors Register and hand-counting ballots after the province banned electronic tabulators.

The Town of Banff reported direct election costs of about $28,000. Municipal clerk Libbey McDougall said those numbers leave out a major part of the work. 

“These numbers are not reflective of the in-house costs,” she told council. 

When the town adds staff time, McDougall said the election “would roughly have been” about $47,000.

The cost jump links back to new provincial rules under Bill 20, which changed Alberta’s municipal election law and removed vote tabulators, meaning towns must count ballots by hand.

Banff hired more than five times as many election workers 

McDougall said the town used vote-counting machines in past elections and staffed those votes with about eight to 10 election workers. In 2025, the town hired about 55 workers to run a hand count.

She said the change also made the count harder to manage. 

“The removal of vote tabulators made the ballot adjudication process subjective and time consuming,” McDougall said. “Vote tabulators would have largely removed the subjectivity in this process.”

Banff staff said the town also had to meet new rules for voter lists. McDougall said the province now requires municipalities “to create a permanent elector’s register or voters list,” and it also includes a “prohibition of automated voting equipment or tabulators.”

Readers can learn more about Banff’s voter list on the town’s Permanent Electors Register page.

Hundreds of hours behind the scenes

McDougall said town staff spent about 300 hours building the new permanent voters list, and 150 hours on extra planning and preparation tied to the new counting rules. 

“This 150 administrative hours equates approximately $7,000,” she told council.

Turnout and results

Banff reported turnout of about 40%, with about 1,800 ballots cast. 

Election results are available through the town’s website.

A recount decided by one vote

The councillor race also triggered a recount.

“Our election was very close with only a two vote difference,” McDougall told council.

After the recount, staff said the margin narrowed to one vote.

McDougall said the recount took about three and a half hours and used about 25 workers.

She said the town paid about $400 in direct costs for the recount, not including town staff wages. McDougall later told council staff wages added about $2,000 more.

Looking ahead to 2029

Town manager Kelly Gibson told council the town had not used a hand count before.

“We’ve never done a hand count. So this was our very first,” he said.

Gibson said Banff avoided an even more complex process because there were fewer contested races than there could have been. 

“From a management standpoint, it was a little easier because those other races did not occur,” he said, noting there was no school vote on the ballot and the mayoral race did not go to voters.

McDougall said the town has shared its election data and feedback with Alberta Municipalities and the Alberta Municipal Clerks Association. 

Gibson said the town hopes the province allows electronic ballot counting again before the next election.