29th Electoral Cycle Communique for Chief Official Agents, Issue Forty-Eight

Advance Voting Begins Tomorrow

Advance Voting Begins Tomorrow

You are no doubt aware that tomorrow is the first of five days of advance voting. For this election, advance polls will be open from Tuesday, October 20 through Saturday, October 24 from 12 noon to 8 p.m. each day.

Advance voting turnout numbers will be posted to our website after each day of advance voting at https://www.elections.sk.ca/media/advance-voter-turnout/. We expect that these numbers will be made available each day at around 2 p.m.

Advance Voting Strike Off Information

I know that you are very interested in securing information on who has voted during advance voting. The ability to provide real-time strike off information is a key benefit of the modernization initiative that we now hope to have in place for the province’s 2024 election.

That said, we have come up with a system whereby you will receive centrally compiled strike off information from constituencies in the province’s four largest cities: Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw. A zip file will be uploaded to the RPP FTP site by 11 a.m. after every day of advance voting. Let us know if you have questions about this process or how to access the data. 

Candidate Representatives

I know well the important role that candidate representatives play in a democracy such as ours. Their contributions are not often recognized but they should not be overlooked and I hope you will pass along my appreciation to everyone who serves as a candidates’ representative in the coming days.

Two items of note for candidates’ representatives:

  • First, I would ask that you remind all candidates and their candidate representatives of our COVID-19 mitigation strategies. They must wear a mask at all times in the polling location and remain physically distanced from election officials and voters. Other information related to the rights and responsibilities of candidate representatives can be found in our E-418 Guide for Candidates’ Representatives, which is available on our website at https://www.elections.sk.ca/candidates-political-parties/forms-and-guides/.
  • Second, in response to a number of inquiries and questions, we have created a document listing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to candidates’ representatives. It is attached to this Communique. Please distribute throughout your party as I believe it will answer many questions during advance and election day voting.

Party Leaders and Media Coverage                    

The media may request to videotape or photograph your party leader as they cast their ballot. If any member of the media has a request to bring their photography or video equipment inside a voting place, they must contact Tim Kydd, Senior Director, Outreach and Communications, and we will consider requests on an individual basis. Some essential rules for media inside a voting place:

  • They are allowed behind the information officer, but are not to go behind the table where the ballot box rests with the Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) and poll clerk;
  • Media are not allowed to be behind the voting screen at any time;
  • Media are to finish their assignment with the party leader, and then exit the voting place. They are not allowed to video or photograph other voters, nor interview voters inside the voting place.
  • Media must follow all instructions from election officials and respect all measures in place related to COVID-19.

I would appreciate if you could notify Tim ([email protected] or 306.787.7355) about when and where your party leader is voting. In turn, we will notify the election officials at that polling place and make appropriate arrangements with our Field Leadership Team. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to be in touch with us.

Updates to Revised List

Over the weekend, a revised voters list was made available to you. I want you to be aware that updated files for the constituencies of Regina Pasqua and Rosetown-Elrose have been added to the FTP portal. Updates have been made to this list, primary related to personal care facilities. These changes affect polling divisions 1, 16 and 51 in Regina Pasqua and PCF polls 1 to 6 in Rosetown-Elrose.  

Mandatory Masks – Locations

On Friday, I let you know that we would be posting a list of locations that require mandatory mask usage by voters onto our website. The list of locations, including constituency information, can be found at https://www.elections.sk.ca/voters/mandatory-masks-polling-locations/.  If, after advance voting starts, we learn of any more locations that are requiring masks for voters, we will update the list accordingly.

Thank you for attention to these important details and best of luck as advance voting begins. I will continue to be in touch with you throughout the week using Communiques but do not hesitate to contact us directly if you have questions or concerns.  

Sincerely,

Dr. Michael Boda
Chief Electoral Officer
Province of Saskatchewan