More ways to vote in Sask.'s 2016 provincial campaign - Action News
Home WebMail Saturday, November 23, 2024, 07:02 AM | Calgary | -12.2°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Saskatchewan

More ways to vote in Sask.'s 2016 provincial campaign

Saskatchewan's chief electoral officer, Michael Boda, has spent the past few years trying to knock down any barriers between voters and the ballot box.

Advance polls open to all from Mar 29 to April 2

Elections Saskatchewan aims to knock down barriers to voting on April 4. (Elections Saskatchewan)

Saskatchewan's chief electoral officer, Michael Boda, has spent the past few years trying to knock down any barriers between voters and the ballot box.

For the 2016 provincial campaign, that includes everything from bringing a ballot to the home of a person with mobility issues to allowing anyone to vote in advance polls even those who will be in the province on April 4.

Elections Saskatchewan has prepared voters guides in more than a dozen languages, including Russian. (Elections Saskatchewan)

"It's about making it more convenient for voters," Boda said.

A votersguide has also been created in more than a dozen languages, including Cree, Mandarin, Russian and Tagalog as well as English and French.

"We want to make this process as accessible for every person who's eligible to vote,"Boda said.

There is also, for the first time, a list of eligible voters which will form the basis for the province's first permanent voters list.

"This is really an historic transition that's underway," Boda said. "Because we have been doing what's called door-to-door enumeration since the beginning of the province. I think the first list was done in 1908."

Province gets first permanent voters list

That work had to be done during the election campaign, which meant a lot of work as well as a lot of money.

"It was a hurried process," Boda said. "We'd send 3,000 people out to try to find every eligible voter in the province and create a list."

Boda says the result was fewer people recorded as eligible voters than there actually were. In 2011, Boda says, door-to-door enumeration reached approximately 71 per cent of eligible voters.

For the 2016 election, that has risen to more than 90 per cent. That will, however, affect the ability to compare this election's voter turnout to previous campaigns.

If you are not on the voterslist or aren't sure whether you are you can check the Elections Saskatchewan website.

Voters can register to vote right up until election day but after March 22, you will need to do it in person.