Please see below for information on the impending municipal/provincial election timing problem as well as additional information on our Wednesday, June 14 meeting of Registered Political Parties.
Municipal/Provincial Election Timing Problem
Well in advance of the April 4, 2016 provincial election, my office began reviewing potential conflicts in election timing at the federal, provincial and municipal level. In part, this came about because of the five-month delay of the 28th general election that occurred due to the writ period overlap between it and the October 2015 federal election.
I want to ensure that all of you are aware of another election timing conflict on the horizon. Saskatchewan is currently scheduled to experience a substantial overlap between provincial and municipal election periods in 2020.
The attached CEO discussion paper looks at this problem in detail and presents three workable options to resolve this conflict. The paper was delivered to legislators last week and includes a recommendation that our next provincial election be delayed by five months. This recommendation was made with the needs of our voters in mind – it would not be possible logistically to have both municipal and provincial election campaigns taking place at the same time.
I realize there are many political considerations surrounding this issue. I want to be clear that my discussion paper did not take these into account and any future comments or discussion on this topic from my office will not contemplate the political ramifications of any potential solution.
Annual RPP Meeting – Please RSVP
About a month ago, I let you know that this year’s meeting between Elections Saskatchewan and the province’s Registered Political Parties would be held on Wednesday, June 14 here in Regina. Given that we are around six weeks from that meeting, I wanted to provide all of you with a bit more information.
Once again, I would like to invite you, as Chief Official Agent, as well as one other representative from your party to attend the meeting. I would appreciate if you would confirm your attendance, as well as who else from your party will be joining us. You can email Noel Selinger with this information at noel.selinger@elections.sk.ca or call her at 306.519.8397.
This year’s meeting will be held at our head office, 301-3303 Hillsdale Street, Regina. We’ll send out an agenda closer to the meeting.
Dr. Michael Boda
Chief Electoral Officer
Province of Saskatchewan