Fewer Calgarians headed to the polls on Monday, compared to the huge turnout the city saw in 2010.
Only 38.43 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot, according to preliminary voter turnout numbers from the City of Calgary. Those figures show a significant drop from the 53.2 per cent voter turnout in 2010.
In Edmonton, 213,585 votes made it to the ballot box, with 34.5 per cent of eligble Edmontonians voting, a slight increase of just over one per cent from 2010.
Edmonton's new mayor Don Iveson garnered the highest total number of votes in Edmonton's mayoral history, the Edmonton Journal reports, with a grand total of 132,162 votes. He garnered almost 62 per cent of the vote, while Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi earned 74 per cent.
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The drop in Calgary's voter turnout could be attributed to speculation the popular mayor was the strongest contender and did not need the huge support he depended on to win the 2010 election.
Meanwhile, Edmonton's mayor Stephen Mandel decided not to seek re-election when his term ended this fall, giving voters a fresh set of candidates to choose from.
The 34-year-old Iveson captured the imaginations of many voters with a platform that encouraged an "innovative" agenda for Edmonton.
During his acceptance speech on Monday night, Iveson also stressed he sees a "new sense of optimism'' and a "more confident swagger'' in the city.
With files from The Canadian Press