March 14, 2017 – A total of 5,036 ballots were cast in the constituency of Saskatoon Meewasin by-election. The ballot boxes from absentee and hospital voting were opened today and the ballots counted as part of the final count, making the results official.
“These results are now official and now become part of the electoral history of Saskatchewan,” says Dr. Michael Boda, Chief Electoral Officer of Saskatchewan. “By law, those who voted by mail as an absentee voter had until March 12 for their ballots to be received by Elections Saskatchewan, although the envelopes had to be postmarked by 8 p.m. on March 2. We’ve now counted those ballots, as well as the ballots cast at Saskatoon City Hospital on March 2.”
The official results can be found at http://results.elections.sk.ca/meewasin2017/
Ballots that were counted on election night are not recounted during the final count, but the results are confirmed against what was reported. By legislation, absentee ballots and votes cast at hospitals, remand centres and by temporarily displaced voters are counted at the final count.
The total of 51 ballot boxes reported is comprised of
Votes from the absentee and hospital ballot boxes were combined for the purposes of reporting due to a small number of votes cast at the hospital poll. This helps to ensure the secrecy of all votes cast.
The preliminary results released on March 2 showed a total of 4,923 ballots cast. These results did not include the absentee poll, hospital poll or rejected ballots.
A total of 12,121 were added to Saskatchewan’s Permanent Register of Voters as of February 21, the deadline for voters to register and be included on the voters list for the by-election. The estimated number of eligible voters in the constituency is 12,700 as of March 1, 2017.
Following are the turnout rates based on the official results:
Voter turnout for Saskatchewan by-elections has traditionally been lower than general elections. By comparison, results following the final count from the 2016 Saskatchewan provincial general election within the constituency of Saskatoon Meewasin were:
“I want to offer my sincere appreciation to our more than 200 election workers for helping us deliver this by-election. Many hours were put in on March 2 as well as the advance voting and in the returning office since the writ was issued on Feb. 3. These Saskatchewan citizens have given back to their community in a meaningful way.”
Elections Saskatchewan is the province’s independent, impartial, professional election management body. Given a mandate from the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly, it organizes, manages and oversees provincial electoral events. Find information for voters, workers, media, candidates and parties at www.elections.sk.ca.
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For more information, contact:
Tim Kydd
Senior Director, Communications & Outreach
Elections Saskatchewan
306.537.9211
Tim.kydd@elections.sk.ca