When we first shared our election project back in March, we included a rough timeline of what to expect in the months and days leading up to the Oct. 20 municipal election. I’m happy to report that we have mostly stuck to that schedule!
Candidate survey sent, responses coming in
The latest milestone was the completion of our candidate survey, which we began sending on Sept. 6 to those running for election.
If you’re running for mayor or city council in Edmonton, you should have received an email with a link to the survey. If you haven’t, please get in touch with us at hello@taprootedmonton.ca.
The survey includes 30 questions covering a wide range of topics. It was informed by the 900+ responses to our election question, insights gathered at listening sessions, input from our election partners, and our own observations of what Edmonton’s next city council will face.
This year’s survey is an evolution of the one we developed for the 2021 municipal election, incorporating best practices and lessons learned. For example, we kept the multiple choice format, but added an optional text box for candidates to provide additional information for each question.
Last time we had 10 categories or topics with three questions each. This time, while we grouped related questions together to make completing the survey easier, we do not have a fixed number of questions per category. When drafting the survey, we organized questions into three big types. Many questions ask about a candidate’s views, some address their priorities, and some ask about action they would take. Each type of question has similar wording.
The questions are designed to be clear, concise, and easy to answer. Like last time, each question is accompanied by some brief context crafted by our editorial team to help candidates and voters better understand the issue at hand.
Every question this time has just three possible responses, plus a standard “I don’t have a position on this issue” option. Candidates can also choose to skip questions. We did our best to craft responses that will meaningfully differentiate candidates.
Everyone who filled out the 2021 survey saw the questions and responses in the same order. This time around, we are randomizing the groupings of questions and the order of responses within each question. This approach helps reduce bias.
It’s a lot of work to put together a survey like this! Our team spent many hours drafting, revising, and testing the survey to ensure it meets our expectations of clarity, fairness, and usefulness to voters.
The survey is an important step toward our goal of equipping voters with reliable, issue-focused information ahead of the election. Now we need candidates to complete it.
As of Sept. 12, we have 33 responses from candidates either completed or in progress. We are hoping to have collected most responses by Nomination Day on Sept. 22.
After that, we’ll launch our voter matching engine, which will enable voters to take the same survey to see how the candidates align with them on the issues. Thousands of Edmontonians used the tool in 2021 to help them make informed choices.
Candidates’ answers will also be displayed along with their other information on our election website, (as we did in 2021).
More opportunities to learn where candidates stand
Another place you’ll see the results of the survey is at the mayoral forum we have partnered with the Edmonton Public Library on, to be held at the Stanley A. Milner branch and online on the evening of Oct. 9. Some of the questions to be put to the candidates will be informed by the survey results. Register to attend, and watch the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for other opportunities to inform yourself ahead of the Oct. 20 election.
We’ll also be incorporating the survey results into our election coverage. Our journalists have already been digging into various election issues, often drawing on results of our listening work. For example, the team looked into tackling homelessness in Edmonton, a top concern for voters who participated in our listening sessions.
There’s much more to come in the weeks ahead!
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