People in the Fort McMurray area set a dubious record in the March 3 provincial election — having the lowest voter turnout across Alberta.

Only 7,136 — or 21 per cent — of the 33,096 registered voters in the riding of Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo cast ballots, Elections Alberta said. Across the province, about 41 per cent of eligible people voted.

Across the province, about 41 per cent of eligible people voted in the March 3 election.
(CBC)

"I was working, so I didn't get a chance," said Pamela Anthony, 22, who works in a busy hair salon down the street from a polling station.
 
Oilfield worker Brendon Hunt agreed finding time to vote was difficult given the bustling pace of life in the northern Alberta oilsands city.

"I'm originally from Newfoundland. I voted from the age of 18 to the age of 26. I've been up here 2½ years and haven't voted since I came to Fort McMurray," Hunt said.

Elections Alberta put extra resources into making sure people in the oil patch knew about the election, said spokesperson Cathy Muth. That included putting up 47 signs around northern work camps to tell people that an election was being held and registering 2,500 new voters, she said.

"It wasn't very busy at any of the [polling] stations," said longtime resident Ray-Anne Dipasquale, one of the few who did vote. She was not surprised at the dismal turnout.

'People are transient'

"I think the biggest thing here is a lot of people are transient and they don't care," she said.

Things have to change, said John Vyboh, a Fort McMurray city councillor. He wants to see elections officials look at innovative methods to get more people to vote, including internet voting.

But ultimately society has to find a way to make people understand that voting matters, he said.

"In our society, we're very big on our rights, but we're very weak on our responsibilities."
 
Not all northern areas of the province had a problem getting people out to vote.

Dunvegan-Central Peace, a vast, sparsely populated riding that includes communities like Fairview, Spirit River and Grimshaw in northwest Alberta, saw more than 54 per cent of the voters cast a ballot, the highest in the province.