Kindersley, Melfort & Swift Current By-Election Communique for Chief Official Agents, Issue Nine

Preliminary results and key dates related to by-elections.

Preliminary Results

Preliminary vote counts are as follows:

Kindersley

• Ken Francis, Saskatchewan Party – 3,339
• Travis Hebert, N.D.P. – 375
• Yvonne Potter-Pihach, Green Party – 74

Melfort

• Todd Goudy, Saskatchewan Party – 3,270
• Lorne Schroeder, N.D.P. – 809
• Shawn Setyo, Green Party – 77

Swift Current

• Everett Hindley, Saskatchewan Party – 3,776
• Stefan Rumpel, N.D.P. – 1,243
• Maria Rose Lewans, Green Party – 67
• Aidan Roy, Liberal Party – 49

As mentioned, these are only preliminary results. The final count will be held on Tuesday, March 13 in all three constituencies. Absentee and hospital votes will be counted at that time and official results will be released upon completion.

By-election turnout, as a percentage of registered voters is presented below, the 2016 general election turnout is included in brackets.

• Kindersley – 32.42 percent (59.74 percent)
• Melfort – 34.22 percent (59.23 percent)
• Swift Current – 42.12 percent (60.55 percent)

As in past by-elections, advance voting continues to be a popular option for voters. More than 31 percent of all votes cast across the three constituencies took place in advance. Swift Current, in fact, saw 1,620 advance voters – an increase from the 1,326 who voted early in 2016. While I am hesitant to draw too definite of a conclusion, I believe this points to the fact that voters increasingly want to vote when and where it suits them and the traditional model of elections taking place primarily on one day needs to be reconsidered.

Key Dates

Here are a few reminders of key dates over the coming weeks:

• Tuesday, March 13 – The final count will be held in constituency returning offices.
• Saturday, March 24 – The three returning officers will return the writs of election to my office. Upon receipt, I will inform the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly that the by-elections have been completed and inform him of the successful candidates. It is only after the Clerk receives this information that the successful candidates can be formally sworn in as Members of the Legislative Assembly.
• Friday, June 1 – Deadline for candidates to file their audited return of election expenses.
• Tuesday, September 4 – Deadline for registered political parties to file their audited return of election expenses.

Unless something pressing emerges, I will be in touch late next week with information on the final count.

Dr. Michael Boda
Chief Electoral Officer
Province of Saskatchewan