Return of the Writ & Poll by Poll Results
Return of the Writ
Yesterday, our Returning Officer, Marlene Daigneault, returned the Writ of Election and other necessary materials, completing her legislative responsibilities. With that information in hand, I was able to write to the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly and confirm that Jim Lemaigre has been duly elected to serve as MLA for the constituency of Athabasca. As required by legislation, I will also publish this information in the Saskatchewan Gazette.
Once again, I must raise the issue of the leading candidate being deemed elected by the Legislative Assembly in advance of the completion of all legislated activities. On Monday, March 7, The Athabasca Constituency By-election Act was passed, allowing Mr. Lemaigre to serve as an MLA. This was before the end of the recount application period and before the Return to the Writ. I have mentioned my concerns with this process to you following past by-elections. Given that this has continued to happen, I will be writing to the Premier and the Leader of the Official Opposition to express my concerns with ignoring portions of the legislatively required election process.
Poll by Poll Results Available
Earlier today, we posted a file containing the poll-by-poll results for the Athabasca by-election to our website. This file can be found at: https://www.elections.sk.ca/reports-data/election-results/ along with results from other recent by-elections.
For by-elections, we aim to have poll by poll results available to you within about a month of polling day. This timeframe does not apply to general elections, where detailed results will continue to take much longer to prepare and make accessible.
Key Dates
A reminder of several key dates to add to your calendar:
Dr. Michael Boda
Chief Electoral Officer
Province of Saskatchewan
All information related to the Athabasca by-election can be found online at www.elections.sk.ca/athabasca.