SASKATOON -- Just over a quarter of eligible voters cast their ballots in the Saskatoon civic election which had to be postponed because of the snowstorm that slammed the city.
The city says voter turnout was 27.4 per cent - the second-lowest for a local election in the last 20 years.
Four per cent of voters cast their ballots last Monday when polls closed early because of the snowstorm, while less than two per cent voted on Friday, the extra day of in-person voting. Nearly 30,000 people voted in advance polls or by mail.
“Given the environmental challenges confronted, voters went to the polls,” returning officer Scott Bastian said in a news release.
Bastian said there will be a lot to learn from the ununprecedented election, held amid a pandemic and then delayed by some of the worst winter weather the city has seen in over a decade.
“There will be an opportunity to explore facets of the 2020 election with the election office and perhaps in conjunction with other municipalities in Saskatchewan and Elections Saskatchewan,” Bastian said in a news release.
Bastain is expected to submit a report on the election to city council during the first qaurter of 2021.
