Everything you need to know on election day
Regina residents head to the polls to choose council and school board members today. Craig Baird got the voting details from Jim Nicol, Regina’s chief returning officer.
Q Where do people vote? A There was a notice that went out to residences and apartments. If you lived at that address, you are eligible to vote in that ward. That just reminds them to vote at a certain place. Sometimes it was the same as before, sometimes it changed. We prompt people to go to the Elections Regina website, where they can download the voter registration form. People need to fill that out and bring it to the polling station, but if they don’t, they can fill one out at the polling
station. That is them declaring that they meet the requirements of voting.
Q How do you prove you meet the requirements to vote?
A They sign a declaration to say they have. There is no checking to say that they have not been in Regina for three months, or Saskatchewan for six months. If you don’t live in Regina, but you have owned accessible land or property in the city, you can vote for the mayor and councillor.
Q Do you have to be a property owner?
A People who rent apartments get to vote. The only stipulation is that you have lived in Regina for three months, and Saskatchewan for six months. You also sign a declaration to say you have not voted yet.
Q What identification do you need?
A You have to have a government-issued photo ID, or two other pieces of government ID. One shows your first and last name, the other shows your first and last name and address. If you don’t have picture ID, you could bring in your passport. You can also bring in a bank statement or donor registration card. You can use a utility bill. Anything that confirms that you are who you are. You can also have someone vouch for you. If you went to the voting station and you had forgotten your ID at home and it turns out that someone in the polling station knows you and that you live in the ward, they can vouch for you. They only get to do that once for one person, unless it is a family member. Q When can people vote? A You can vote at 9 a.m. and the polls close at 8 p.m. Q Can you vote at any location? A No, you cannot. You have to vote in your polling station for the ward you are in. On election day, there will only be ballots that are relevant to that respective poll station. If you showed up at the wrong poll, the officials would say that you have to go to another location.
Q How do people vote in the booth?
A People get a ballot and there are instructions and people colour in a space beside a candidate of their choice. When you are done, it is put in a privacy sleeve and it is given to the deputy returning officer. It is fed into the machine confidentially, and then the electronic count will show that it has gone up by one. Once it has gone in the machine, it goes into a receiving bin, but those ballots are kept in case a recount is required. Q Why should people vote? A This is people’s democratic right to shape the city and where it is going. I always reflect on an emerging democracy and people will stand out in the blazing sun because they have never been able to vote before. I always think it is humbling that we can complain and we can’t take a few minutes to shape a city’s direction. We try to make everything straightforward and easy. We hope people don’t have reasons why they can’t vote, we are trying to refute that.