With the demands of advance voting and election day behind us, we are now turning our attention to the final count and, ultimately, closing down our returning offices and the return of the writs. A few messages for you today.
Thank you!
First, I want to offer a genuine thank you to you, your candidates, business managers and volunteers for working with us at Elections SK to implement the 28th Provincial Election. Like you, we know well that the election is far from over, with the final count, return of the writs, party and candidate filing deadlines and other legislative reporting still to come in the weeks and months ahead. Still, election day marks a certain shift in thinking, both for parties and election management bodies like Elections SK. I hope that you’ll pass along my sincere thanks to all those in your parties for being so collaborative. We look forward to continuing to work with you.
Hospital and Remand Ballot Sorting
You will already know that not all ballots are counted on election night – absentee, hospital and remand ballots will all be counted at the Final Count on Saturday, April 16. Before hospital and remand ballots can be counted, they must first be sorted and delivered to the appropriate constituencies. Remember – individuals in hospitals or remand centres vote in the constituency they are resident and not the constituency the hospital or remand centre is in. Since election day, about 60 hospital and remand ballot boxes have been received at our head office in Regina from across the province. As you can imagine, this is a complex and time sensitive administrative process that our Field Leadership Team must undertake as quickly as possible after election day.
Within five days of election day, my head office team must sort these ballots and prepare for them to be shipped to the appropriate returning offices for the final count. We will be sorting these ballots on Saturday, April 9, starting at 10 a.m. No ballots or ballot envelopes will be opened or counted, they will only be sorted by constituency. Candidates and candidate representatives are allowed to view this process if they wish. We will need to make prior arrangements with anyone who wishes to attend as our building is locked on the weekends. Please contact Jennifer Colin at Jennifer.colin@elections.sk.ca for more information or to confirm your attendance.
Removal of Highway Signs
The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure has asked me to pass along one more message related to signs along provincial highways.
An election sign near a provincial highway needs to be removed within seven calendar days after the election date. For more information, please see the attached document or visit: http://www.highways.gov.sk.ca/electionsigns.
Upcoming Dates
Here are a few reminders of upcoming key dates: