Holding Saskatoon civic elections in November 'not preferred': report
A review of the 2020 Saskatoon civic election from returning officer Scott Bastian outlines several potential changes that can improve the process.
One option is holding the civic election earlier in the year, to avoid inclement weather and overlap of a provincial election.
“Holding municipal elections in Saskatchewan in November is not preferred," the report reads. "Not only is there potential for poor weather conditions, but the municipal election will continue to overlap with the provincial election. Consideration of a change of season for municipal elections would allow for separation between the provincial and municipal elections and help to alleviate winter weather concerns.”
Last year, the civic election was postponed four days following a massive snow storm.
The report also looks at the impact of having the civic and provincial elections only weeks apart. It says with the provincial election being two weeks before the civic vote, advance polls could have opened up one day before voters cast ballots for premier.
“It was decided to provide a short reprieve between the provincial election date and the city’s first advance poll. In 2024, advance polls for the municipal election can – under current legislation – start one day after the provincial election. This is another reason moving the date of the municipal election is desired.”
Mail-in confusion
With the civic and provincial elections only two weeks apart, the report says the provincial election office in Saskatoon received mail-in ballot applications that were for the municipal election. Meanwhile, the civic election office received mail-in ballot applications for the provincial election.
The report also notes some issues were encountered with the online application form for mail-in ballots. It says the application form did not properly populate information based on the name or address of voters. As a result, a number of applications were rejected.
“A rejected application often resulted in a voter re-applying, in one case, as many as seven times, causing application review time to be significantly increased, belabouring the already manual process.”
The report says there are several ways to improve the application process for mail-in ballots, including using various data attributes to populate information. It also says the process could be better managed with a system dedicated to mail in voting.
The election review outlines several successes, including the establishment of the first-ever drive thru polling station, an increase in advance polls, and a 4,500 per cent increase in mail-in ballot applications.
Lack of voter list can be challenging
The subject of a voters list was also addressed in the review. It says voters lists were prepared for civic elections between 1973 and 1988. In 1991, city council nixed the voters list and it has not been used since.
“The absence of a voters list requires voters to register at the poll by completing a voter registration form and presenting documentation to establish identity and residence. This process requires training election officials to understand the registration form and process and to be familiar with all types of identification that can be produced.”
It says a report from administration in 2016 indicated door-to-door voter enumeration would cost between $380,000 and $500,000.
“To address the issue, recognizing resourcing challenges, the returning officer is exploring the possibility of sharing election-related voter information from provincial and federal sources to create a voters list without enumeration.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Weather alerts issued for 7 provinces, 1 territory
Warnings of up to 60 millimetres of rain and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces and one territory ahead of the Easter weekend.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Luxury cruise line selling world cruise suite for US$1.7 million
Luxury operator Regent Seven Seas Cruises is raising their price tag to eye-watering levels, with a suite on an upcoming 140-day world voyage costing US$1.7 million.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
A Filipino villager is nailed to a cross for the 35th time on Good Friday to pray for world peace
A Filipino villager has been nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal Good Friday tradition he said he would devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
'Oppenheimer' finally premieres in Japan to mixed reactions and high emotions
'Oppenheimer' finally premiered Friday in the nation where two cities were obliterated 79 years ago by the nuclear weapons invented by the American scientist who was the subject of the Oscar-winning film. Japanese filmgoers' reactions understandably were mixed and highly emotional.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.