Swift Current municipal election will feature COVID precautions

A series of COVID-19 precautions will be in place when Swift Current residents go to the polls to cast their ballot in the municipal election on November 9.

With the provincial general election taking place on November 2, the election date for the municipal election has been changed from the fourth Wednesday of October to November 9 after some recent amendments to the Local Government Election Act.

Swift Current is gearing up for the general election by approving polling stations, setting out the process for special polls, advance pools and regular polls, along with the ability to vote by mail in ballots. City Council will be entertaining a full general election bylaw at their upcoming July 27 City Council meeting.

While the ability to vote by mail is not new to previous Swift Current elections, this voting option may be more popular as a result of the pandemic.

“Due to COVID we feel that this may be a preferred means of casting a vote, and therefor we will expand on the mail-in ballot process for the 2020 election,” City Clerk Jackie Schlamp explained following the June 29 Council meeting.

During the last election in 2016 Swift Current made a provision for mail in ballots for the first time, and 34 city residents took advantage of that voting opportunity.

The report on the 2020 Municipal Election also confirmed the City will be utilizing three poling stations, the Innovation Credit Union iplex, the Chinook Golf Course, and Trailview Church.

“What we tried to establish is sticking with City facilities and looking at those facilities within the designated areas. Due to the uncertainty of COVID it’s being recommended that we stay away from schools or churches. There was no other facility up in the Highland/trail area, so therefore we stuck with Trailview Church and then we utilized the two City facilities.”

The three polling locations is a decrease from four during the last election.

“We eliminated the Colonel Clifton Centre and are utilizing the iplex. From a health safety point of view the iplex auditorium is bigger. There’s more space there that we could utilize to spread things out should we be still dealing with COVID.”