November 8, 2020 – The Final Count of ballots cast for Saskatchewan’s 29th General Election is complete.
A total of 445,011 ballots were cast in this election, the most in a Saskatchewan general election since 2007 and second most since 1991. This represents 52.86 per cent of the 841,807 estimated eligible voters in the province. In the province’s 28th general election, held in April 2016, 53.5 per cent of eligible voters voted.
Final results can be found here: https://results.elections.sk.ca/.
“Administering an election during a pandemic was a significant challenge,” says Dr. Michael Boda, Chief Electoral Officer of Saskatchewan. “I’d like to thank our dedicated Field Leadership Team members in all 61 constituencies and the thousands of people throughout the province who gave their time to work at advance and election day polls.”
“I also want to recognize all of the 236 people who put their name forward as candidates,” says Dr. Boda. “Placing your name on the ballot as a candidate for election is a very important act of public participation and deserves the highest respect.”
This election saw a significant shift in how voters chose to cast their ballot. In anticipation of some voters not wanting to physically attend a polling station, Elections Saskatchewan drastically increased its capacity to offer voting by mail. In total, 61,255 vote by mail ballots were issued to voters and 56,547 were returned and counted.
Advance voting (held from October 20 to 24) also saw historic increases. In 2016, 110,716 people voted at advance polls – in 2020, that increased to 185,061, an increase of 67 per cent.
During a First Preliminary Count, held election night, October 26, a total of 385,461 ballots were counted from advance voting polls, election day polls, and personal care facility polls.
A Second Preliminary Count was held on October 28 and 29. At this count, all vote by mail ballots received before 8 p.m. on election day were counted – a total of 40,209 votes.
The Final Count was held yesterday, November 7. At the Final Count, the remaining vote by mail ballots that were received before the deadline of Thursday, November 5 were counted along with special ballots (hospital, remand, and temporarily displaced ballots, absentee ballots cast in the returning office and extraordinary voting ballots).
For more information on how votes were counted in this election, click here: https://cdn.elections.sk.ca/upload/2020.10.22-Counting-Ballots-infographic.pdf.
Following the completion of the Final Count, candidates and business managers can request a recount or addition for a set period of time. At the end of this period, on Wednesday, November 18, all 61 Returning Offices must complete a Return to the Writ and send it to the Chief Electoral Officer. Upon receiving this, the Chief Electoral Officer must inform the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of the winning candidates, who can then be sworn in as Members of the Legislative Assembly.
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
tim.kydd@elections.sk.ca