October 20, 2020. Advance voting across Saskatchewan begins at noon today.
This election there are 323 advance polls at 232 locations across the province (some locations have more than one poll inside). This is up from 173 advance poll locations in the 2016 general election. More locations were added to have greater physical distancing inside the polls. A complete list of locations is at: https://www.elections.sk.ca/voters/advance-voting-locations/.
“We had a record number of advance voters in 2016 with more than 110,000 people choosing to vote early instead of on election day,” says Dr. Michael Boda, Chief Electoral Officer of Saskatchewan. “It has been a consistent upward trend in advance voting turnout over the last six general elections since 1995. For many voters it’s more convenient to vote on one of the five advance days then on election day, and our election workers are once again ready for this turnout.”
“What’s different this election is the large increase of vote by mail applications, more than 61,000 compared to less than 5,000 in 2016. Many voters who may have voted at an advance poll in the past have likely chosen to vote by mail in this election.”
Historical advance voting turnout: https://www.elections.sk.ca/media/advance-voter-turnout/
Advance voting turnout will be posted on our website daily.
Voters will notice pandemic protocols in place at all poll locations, including workers wearing masks, physical distancing, use of sanitizer and clear dividers between voters and workers, and single-use pencils.
Voters are strongly encouraged to wear a mask inside the polls. There are some mandatory mask poll locations per direction of facility management. That list is updated daily here: https://www.elections.sk.ca/voters/mandatory-masks-polling-locations/.
Elections Saskatchewan (ESK) is the province’s nonpartisan election management body and an independent office of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. ESK directs and supervises the administration of provincial electoral events, including the 2020 provincial election.
Information for voters, workers, media, candidates and parties at www.elections.sk.ca.
For more information contact:
Tim Kydd
Senior Director, Outreach & Communications
Elections Saskatchewan
306.537.9211
[email protected]