(Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Lethbridge Police respond to off-reserve Blood Tribe election polling station

Nov 27, 2020 | 6:05 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Police in Lethbridge were called out to an off-reserve Blood Tribe elections polling station Thursday evening.

LPS says a private security company had called them with concerns of a group unable to vote was becoming too aggressive. Police attended at the polling station at Exhibition Park in Lethbridge after 8 p.m.

There, they found a large crowd gathered outside the building entrance.

Police say they spoke with several people who voiced concerns that they had been waiting a long time to vote and were told by security that the polls were closed, and they needed to leave the property.

More details on the 2020 Blood Tribe elections can be found here.

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According to initial information posted on the election website, polling stations on the Blood Reserve, in Calgary and Lethbridge were to close at 7 p.m. Thursday night.

LPS say they were told by election workers that the polls had been extended an extra hour to 8 p.m., but when police were on scene, the polls were closed, and votes were being counted.

An officer was asked to read the bylaw regarding voting hours out loud.

Once he explained that the polls were not being shut down early, the crowd on-site began to disperse without incident and police left the scene.