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Photo by Gavin Young / Postmedia

A notably divisive and often nasty election campaign has left a sour taste in many Albertans’ mouths, said Jason Krell.

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So the Calgarian and a few of his friends decided to put a positive glaze on the democratic experience by rewarding advance poll voters with doughnuts.

“Everybody is at odds over the election, it’s very divisive, so we thought it’s time to stop talking about it and have something we can all agree on — eating a doughnut,” said Krell.

“Anyone who votes gets a doughnut . . . we wanted to bring some joy back to voting.”

Democracy Donuts began serving early-bird voters their just desserts on Tuesday, providing 200 of the sugary pastries at the downtown Kerby Centre advance poll.

Four more polling stations will be sweetened this week, including Marda Loop Community Centre on Wednesday, Vivo at 11950 Country Village Link N.E. on Thursday, SAIT’s Stan Grad Centre on Friday and the Pineridge Community Centre on Saturday.

The idea came from one of Krell’s friends who was inspired by lineups at city pancake breakfasts.

“We thought, ‘maybe somebody would line up to vote if there were doughnuts, to vote with your gut,’ ” said Krell.

The group then raised $2,500, which they used to purchase the treats from the city’s Hoopla Donuts.