Preparations are underway for Saskatoon's civic election

The City of Saskatoon is making its final preparations ahead of November's civic election.

"Our election day is 64 days away," civic election returning officer Shellie Bryant said Tuesday.

Before voting in the next mayor, city councillors and school board trustees on Nov. 13, there is plenty of information and key dates the city wants residents to know about.

Nominations for candidates officially opens on Sept. 23rd and will remain open until Oct. 9. The deadline for candidates to withdraw is on Oct. 10.

For the first time since 1988, the city is using a voters list to ensure eligible voters are casting a ballot. With the help of the Elections Saskatchewan voter registry, Bryant said the list will help workers identify voters and ensures each person casts only one ballot rather than registering to vote at the polls.

"They basically come in, they can give us their voter identity lookup number that they will receive when they check the voters list," Bryant said. "It's just easy for them."

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Voters will need to go online before Oct. 22 to check, update or add information to the voters list.

Elections Saskatoon closed its applications for election workers after receiving more than 1,000 applications. The city plans to hire 500 to 600 people from the pool of applicants.

"We're very, very pleased with the amount of applications that we received," Bryant said.

Last year, the city grew by roughly 15,000 people, with much of that attributed to immigration.

According to Bryant, many of the applicants are newcomers.

Eligible voters have the option to apply to vote by mail-in ballot instead of voting in person. Voters will need to apply for their mail-in ballot kit online before Oct. 15.

A voters information guide is expected to be mailed out by mid-October. Advance polls open on Nov. 1.

There will be drive-thru voting on Nov. 9 at City Hall.