Voter turnout in Saskatchewan election could reach 56 per cent

Eligible voters make up a good chunk of the population of Saskatchewan, yet only around half of them cast a ballot in the provincial election.

After the first preliminary count held on Monday night, the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot was just under 53 per cent. Following the second preliminary count on Wednesday, that number rose to 55.37 per cent.

Chief Electoral Officer Michael Boda said that number will rise even higher after the final count on November 9.

“The 53 per cent is just the beginning,” Boda said. “They’re obviously counting other ballots, and it will end up higher than that.”

He said he expects the number could climb to 56 per cent, but isn’t likely to reach much higher.

Boda said the voter turnout in this election is higher than it has been in the past, but there is still work to be done to improve those numbers.

In 2016, Saskatchewan’s voter turnout was 53.5 per cent, and the 2020 election saw 52.9 per cent turnout.

“Testimonials say that people are really engaged, and they really like the way we’re broadening access to the ballot,” he said.

“But we have to re-engage others. We have youth who need to be engaged in this process. We have new Canadians who need to be engaged in the process. We need to broaden access for seniors and we need our Indigenous communities across the province engaging as well.”

One of Elections Saskatchewan’s focus for this election was accessibility.

“What we’re trying to do is reduce barriers for everyone across the province, whether you’re in the cities, you’re in the rural areas, or you’re in remote areas,” he said. “We want everyone to have access to a ballot. But now what we have to do is see people re-engage because, as you know, we’ve had higher turnout rates in the past.”

Boda said more eligible voters need to get involved.

“They have to step up,” he said.

Elections Saskatchewan is still in the early stages of collecting data from this election, and Boda said he couldn’t comment on why voter turnout continues to be low.

He said engagement has less to do with Elections Saskatchewan and more to do with democracy.

“I always say that elections are the beginning of democracy,” he said. “They’re where people are participating. But now democracy goes on for another four years, and we need to see citizens engaged at that level as well.”

He said it would be concerning to see voter turnout drop below 50 per cent.

Boda emphasizes the importance of voting, referencing British Columbia’s most recent provincial election where some results were neck and neck.

“When you have such small differences between the first- and the second-place candidate, every vote counts,” he said.

He said his goal is to remove any further barriers eligible voters are facing and ensure that every single one of them can and wants to participate in an election.

—with files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick