The advance voting period for the Saskatoon Fairview by-election has come to a close. Tomorrow, voters will attend their assigned polling place to cast their ballot and choose their representative in the Legislative Assembly. Thank you for your cooperation thus far. Please refer to the items below for some important information.
By-Election Day
Polls will be open for by-election day voting tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. You should all have information on polling locations already but, if you have questions, please do not hesitate to be in touch.
If your candidates or their representatives encounter any issues during by-election day voting, please contact the returning office or our head office as is appropriate. We look forward to working with you to facilitate this process.
If I need to contact you with information tomorrow, I will do so formally through a By-Election Communique.
Results Reporting
As results begin coming into our office, they will be posted online at http://results.elections.sk.ca. The page should be active if you would like to have a look in advance. We expect that results will begin to be posted at around 9 p.m. tomorrow evening.
You will see that the results page lists 55 ballot boxes. These 55 ballot boxes consist of:
During the Final Count on September 19, an additional ballot box for absentee votes will be added – creating a total of 56 ballot boxes for this by-election. If any one of these ballot boxes need to be combined to ensure the secrecy of the vote, we will let you know through a By-Election Communique.
Advance Voting – Picking up copies of the E-317
As mentioned in my Communique to you dated August 30, 2017, copies of the “E-317 – Poll Book for Voters who Voted at Advance” will be available for pickup after 1 p.m. today.
Please ensure that the person who picks up this document (if it is not the candidate) has a signed copy of the E-417 “Appointment of Candidate’s Representative” form with them. We need this form as verification that the information is being released to an authorized representative of the candidate. If the individual picking up the E-317 has not been designated as a candidate’s representative, blank E-417A forms can be found at https://www.elections.sk.ca/candidates-political-parties/forms-and-guides/e-417a.pdf. The form must be completed in advance of picking up the E-317. If the E-417A is only be used for someone to pick up the E-317, the bottom portion of the document, labeled “For Use By A Deputy Returning Officer Within A Polling Place” does not need to be completed.
SaskTel Voicemail Issues
Finally, as some of you may have noticed, SaskTel has been experiencing issues with its voicemail system over the past several days. While it appears that these problems have been resolved, I wanted to say that if you left a message on anyone’s phone at Elections Saskatchewan over the past week or so and have not received a response back, please let us know immediately. We are very intentional about responding to your queries in a timely manner, and I would appreciate hearing from you if that goal has not been met.
All the best tomorrow.
Dr. Michael Boda
Chief Electoral Officer
Province of Saskatchewan
For additional information on the Saskatoon Fairview by-election, including a link to all CEO Communiques, visit www.elections.sk.ca/fairview.