The results from the municipal election have Cochrane residents feeling a wide mix of emotions.

This year saw 19 candidates vying for a seat on Town Council, and three candidates competing to represent Cochrane on the Rocky View Schools (RVS) board of trustees.

After months of campaigning and anticipation, Cochranites chose to re-elect all six incumbent Town Councillors as well as the School Trustee for Ward 6.

Ten-year Cochrane Resident Rob Low says while the cards didn't fall exactly as he hoped, it wasn't far off.

"I voted mostly for the incumbents but I did vote for a couple of the newer candidates as well because they did impress me," explains Low. "Personally with these newer candidates, I talked with them directly one-on-one about issues that matter to me, so I went in as a very informed voter."

Over the past couple of months, local candidates had the opportunity to engage with the public and share their platforms. Residents were also given the opportunity to meet with the candidates in person to ask questions at a Candidates Open House as well as tune in for a live-streamed debate.

Cochranite, Nicole Thompson says that she took advantage of those opportunities to learn about each of the candidates, but she wonders if enough residents did.

She says that much like the federal election, the municipal election proved to be anticlimactic.

"We spent a lot of money and just to have the exact same outcome as we did before the election," says Thompson. " I think of the amount of waste -- those signs and people's time and volunteering. I thought that this town wanted change and I guess I was wrong."

Thompson questions whether name recognition played a factor in the results, and she says she’s disappointed by the low voter turnout. 

Despite early signs of a good turnout at the advance polls, in the end only 33 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots. Low says that Cochrane residents who chose not to head to the polls, voted for the status quo by default and he doesn't believe that's necessarily a bad thing.

"All the people that don't vote, they either don't care enough to vote or they're satisfied with how things are and they're satisfied to let the rest of us decide for them," explains Low. "I read that not as a failure of democracy like some people do but things must have been okay for the past four years because those people chose not to vote differently."

Election results are still considered unofficial at this point and won't be declared official until October 22 at noon.

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