Two advance polls to be open late for this fall’s municipal election

Two advance polls for this fall’s municipal election will be open until 8 p.m., which should give residents enough time to vote if they can’t cast a ballot on election day. City administration has scheduled seven advance poll days at city hall a week before the actual voting day on Nov. 9. From Oct. 29 to 30, and then again from Nov. 2 to 5, advance polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., while an advance poll will be open from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 31.

“This would enable voters to drop by city hall virtually any time they are downtown in the week-and-a-half prior to election day. The likelihood of lineups should greatly diminish,” city clerk Myron Gulka-Tiecho told city council during its May 25 regular meeting. “The availability of mail-in ballots will also be aggressively promoted.” The polls will be open on election day from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. so voters can cast their ballots for a mayor and city councillors, and trustees with both school divisions. Council voted 6-1 to approve city administration’s plan for this fall’s election. Coun. Brian Swanson was opposed.

Council discussion

A handful of voters cast mail-in ballots in 2016, Gulka-Tiecho told Coun. Heather Eby. This method is mainly for people who missed the advance polls, such as seniors who travel south for the winter or students who attend post-secondary elsewhere.

City administration used statistical information to revise the polling locations and boundaries for this year’s municipal election. The data shows there are voting-age 25,915 residents. Therefore, there will be four polling boundaries and two polling locations.

The city clerk’s office has secured two locations for voting: the Moose Jaw Exhibition Convention Centre south end meeting room and Church of Our Lady on South Hill. The estimated cost to conduct the election is $70,000, with the cost split between the municipality and the school divisions.

More locations desired

City council passed a motion in 2019 saying it was disappointed that the provincial government selected Nov. 9 for election day, said Swanson. He thought the province was disrespecting the municipalities, especially since the provincial election is two weeks earlier, while the weather could be poor.

Another concern Swanson had was how there would be only two voting locations. He recalled how the municipality once had 18 polling stations and exercising one’s democratic right to vote was a matter of walking to the nearest polling station.

Now, however, access will be easy for people with a vehicle and difficult for voters who lack transportation, he continued. While there is a bus stop at Superstore, it’s 150 metres away from the convention centre, which could be a cold walk in the winter.

The South Hill location will be expected to accommodate roughly 6,000 voters, while the exhibition grounds will have to handle about 19,000 voters, Swanson said. While there might be concerns about lineups, a greater concern would be if 800 voters showed up at one time. “… A number of highly educated epidemiologists are anticipating this second wave of the pandemic to occur in the fall. I would hope that consideration might be given, should that arise, to delaying the municipal election to the spring, however painful that might be to some people,” he added.

Polling stations

City administration recommends the convention centre’s meeting room as the “Super Poll” location for voters who reside north of the rail yard, said Gulka-Tiecho. This space provides 876.6 square meters (9,740 square feet) of space to host three polling stations in one location, each with multiple registration tables.

“More tables mean fewer lineups and more social distancing,” he remarked.

A Super Poll location ensures residents know where to vote, provides adequate parking, ensures easy access for transit riders, and avoids parking issues and traffic safety concerns with school-based polling locations.

Such a location also provides greater administrative efficiencies, continued Gulka-Tiecho. On-site supervision is more effective with two locations, while consolidated locations can help address technical issues that arise with the electronic vote-counting equipment.

The municipality’s voting machines are more than two decades old, so city hall will lease two new poll scanners and tabulator machines, he added. Limiting voting to two sites will assist in monitoring and resolving any logistical issues.

It cost the city $14,340 during the 2016 municipal election to own and operate the equipment. In 2020 the cost to lease will be $7,310.

The election plan

Other parts of city administration’s plan for the municipal election include:

• Appointing Tracy Wittke as returning officer for the municipal election and as associate returning officer for both school divisions;

• Establishing a poll at the Dr. F. H. Wigmore Regional Hospital for 1.5 hours;

• Establishing special polls at care homes, retirement homes and seniors’ centres;

• Creating a mobile poll for electors with physical disabilities or limited mobility;

• Registering voters at advance polls or polls on election day;

• Removing the reference to occupation from the candidates’ nomination papers and the ballot.

The next regular council meeting is Monday, June 8.