Elections Saskatchewan prepares for unique year

Elections Saskatchewan is preparing to help people head to the polls in October, as well as those who want to vote from home.

Chief electoral officer Dr. Michael Boda said Elections Saskatchewan has been working with the chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, to prepare for Saskatchewan residents to vote in person Oct. 26.

“(We’ve been working) in order to redesign our polls in order to ensure we’re accommodating two-metre physical distancing. We’re offering training (for our workers) that stresses safety and physical distancing,” Boda told Gormley this week.

Boda said the polling stations will have barriers between workers and voters, workers will wear masks and hand sanitizer will be available.

“If you feel comfortable going to your local grocery store, our standard is the same and higher based on the work that we’re doing with the chief medical health officer,” Boda said.

There will also be an increase in the number of polling stations across the province, increasing from around 1,100 in 2016 to around 2,000 this year. This will also require a hike in the number of workers for the election, increasing from 13,000 to 17,000.

Boda is encouraging anyone who feels comfortable working to apply for a position online.

“I’ve been getting notes from some of our longtime workers who are saying, ‘Due to present health concerns, I won’t be able to work this time.’ You can hear the disappointment between the lines,” Boda said.

Work is also being done to modernize the mail-in ballot system, with the expectation that more people than normal will take advantage of voting by mail. In 2016, only about one per cent of voters did it by mail.

“These are often people who are away during the time – a student or perhaps a snowbird. We’re preparing for significantly more to request vote-by-mail ballots this time around,” Boda said.

“We want to be able to provide options for those who may be immunocompromised, they feel there’s a health hazard or they want another option. We want to be able to provide that option while at the same time providing safer polls.”

He encourages people to sign up for mail-in voting as soon as they can to make things easier for Elections Saskatchewan once the writ has been dropped. You can sign up by calling the Elections Saskatchewan office or going to its website.

In order to sign up, a person will need to have identification with them. Boda said the mail-in system is an effective one.

“Don’t be confused with what you’re hearing south of the border with ballots being mailed out unilaterally,” he said. “There is a very clear process we go through. Identification is required and we track the ballots through the whole process so it is a very safe and secure process.”