This fall people all over Saskatchewan will be heading to polling stations to cast their votes, as it’s an election year. This election year is a little bit different, though.
The Covid-19 pandemic has defined 2020 and turned everything upside down and although Saskatchewan is beginning to reopen, health and safety are still the top priority.
To help guide the health and safety protocol for elections this fall, the Electoral Advisory Group was formed.
It consists of Saskatchewan’s Chief Electoral Officer Dr. Michael Boda, Chief medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab, Government House Leader Jeremy Harrison, and Opposition House Leader Cathy Sproule.
The Electoral Advisory Group had their first meeting in early June to discuss how to go forward with the election in the fall.
“This meeting was a good first step in ensuring that I better understand the key challenges facing Saskatchewan as we prepare for our next general election,” said Saskatchewan’s Chief Electoral Officer Dr. Michael Boda.
“A general election is one of the largest events that takes place in our province and is challenging to administer under ideal circumstances. It will be even more challenging in light of the presence of Covid-19.”
Since the first meeting, the Electoral Advisory Group met again on July 10 to look at the viability of conducting a general election on October 26 with the Covid-19 pandemic still going on.
“This second meeting built on the first in terms of understanding the Covid-19 situation in Saskatchewan and how it could affect our scheduled election,” said Boda. “I am pleased with the progress we are making, and I believe that I will be in position to make a recommendation on the viability of an October 26 election to the Lieutenant Governor in Council by early to mid-September.”
The Electoral Advisory Group isn’t a decision-making body, but more of a consulting tool that will inform the public recommendation the Chief Electoral Officer has committed to provide in September on the viability of calling the election for the time set in legislation.
When people all across the province exercise their right to vote, it will look a little different than most year’s, with extra precautions for all involved.
Precautions for voters:
Social distancing in the polls. Voters will be asked to stay 2 metres apart.
Hand sanitizer will be available at all polls.
Surfaces in the polls will be cleaned throughout the day.
Voters are encouraged to bring their own marking devices (pencil, pen, marker, etc.).
Single-use pencils will be provided.
Voters may wear masks or gloves if they choose.
Voters who feel unwell on election day should stay home. Avoid not being able to vote by exploring other voting options such as absentee or advance voting.
Precautions for election workers:
Providing personal protective equipment to workers, such as masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer.
Separating workers from voters with acrylic sneeze guards (where available) or increased physical distancing.
Workers are encouraged to wash their hands throughout the day.
More online video training of our senior field leadership team.
Surveying election workers to hear first-hand any concerns about serving as an election worker.
Boda preparing
Saskatchewan’s Chief Electoral Officer Dr. Michael Boda has been planning for the October election with the Covid-19 protocol taking top priority.
“This is something that we at Elections Saskatchewan and, in my office as Chief Electoral Officer, are taking very seriously with the importance of allowing voters to vote in a safe manner as we move towards a scheduled election on October 26,” he said. “Essentially what I initially offered was some recommendations to the premier and to the Legislative Assembly because it’s the premier’s prerogative to call the election, but it’s also the responsibility of the Legislative Assembly to manage legislation.
“So, I put forward some recommendations to them on how they could assist in making sure that our polls are safe for voters to go to on October 26. They responded and we have been working together in certain areas. One of the area’s is by facilitating the purchase of personal protection equipment (PPE) that will be needed across the province as we go into the election period.
“This is a very large effort, we will probably have close to 1,700 polling locations for the coming election,” he said.
“We will engage with around 13,000 people—that’s what it requires to run an electoral process—across the province in 61 constituencies and while locally it’s a smaller effort, across the province it’s a very large effort. What we need to do is to make sure to prepare in such a way that there are the proper resources available and we’re adapting the electoral process in an appropriate manner.
“Given the allowances I’ve been given as Chief Electoral Officer from the Legislative Assembly to adapt the process working with the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shahab, in order to ensure that we are from the beginning, offering a process that will reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19, should it be present.
“We don’t know what the situation will be in October, so what we’re doing is, we’re preparing now for circumstances where that could arise and we hope it won’t be a situation where Covid-19 will be present, but we will be prepared and that’s what we’re working on right now. We’re doing our due diligence and over preparing so that we are ready.”
Boda likens the Covid-19 adjustments for voters to the changes they’ve had to make in their every day lives, like grocery shopping in a store.
“Residents of Saskatchewan are getting used to working in an environment where there could potentially be Covid-19 present,” he said.
“When you go to the grocery store, there’s certain protocols you follow and when you go to the bank, there’s other certain protocols you follow. This will look quite similar in that regard.
“An election is an essential service as is a grocery store. We’re essentially redesigning the process in such a way so that it reflects those priorities for public health.
“What that means is there will be physical distancing involved, the need for hand sanitizer use, encouragement of masks, our election officials will be using masks, many polling locations will see plexiglass on the table so voters can engage with election officials and have that barrier between the two of them. The route through the polling location will also be adjusted accordingly to ensure there’s proper physical distancing. Things like pencil will be individually given out to voters and discarded. There’s a variety of things and we’re just finalizing the approach for PPE use.”
Although remote voting would take away the need for human interaction, Boda says, there’s not enough time to fully make that shift.
“That (remote voting) has been an issue in the sense that traditionally we have used about one per cent of what we call absentee ballots, but it really is a postal ballot,” he said. “About one per cent of voters have been using absentee ballots, often they’re down south in Arizona, Texas, or California. They’ll use an absentee ballot and what we’ve had to do is rethink and adapt the absentee ballot approach and build capacity in that regard.
“I have been quite clear to the premier and Legislative Assembly that we couldn’t possibly have an all postal ballot election within the timeframe that has been established.
“We’re preparing for an October 26 election and there’s not enough time in order to build an all-postal election. As a result it will be necessary that we make use of the absentee ballots, advance in-person balloting, and election day balloting.
“The key is that we’re balancing all three of those in order to ensure that those who need an absentee ballot will have one and can make use of that and we’re increasing our capacity in that regard, but we’re also redesigning the in person polling locations so that they’re safe for voters who can vote in person to come.”
Boda says he’s exhausting all avenues when it comes to health and safety guidance in prepping for the fall election.
“I’ve been working very closely with the office of the Chief Medical Health Officer, but from the outset Elections Saskatchewan has engaged an infection protection and control consultant to work with us on a daily basis with respect to our processes and procedures. Then I’m engaging in an ongoing basis with Dr. Shahab’s office and working through prototypes with his office to ensure that they meet the standards for the public health and safety that is necessary.
“This is really a strong partnership between the Chief Electoral Officer and the Chief Medical Health Officer to ensure that we’re meeting expectations and reducing risks for voters,” he said. “We will be reinforcing that not only are we doing it, but we will have a public campaign to describe for voters what they can expect at the polls and to reassure them that we are doing our due diligence.”
With other countries having already gone through elections during the Covid-19 pandemic, Boda says, his office is studying those situations and looking at the positive and negative takeaways from their processes.
“One thing that we’ve also done from the very beginning is we’ve looked at different case studies around the world,” he said.
“We’ve dug deep in this regard to determine what was done well and what was done poorly in other electoral processes. We’ve looked at the United States and specifically Wisconsin, we’ve looked at Australia as there was a state election there, and we’ve looked at South Korea.
“We’ve learned a lot from those processes and we’re continuing to analyze electoral processes as they are being completed so that we can then adjust and learn from those situations and offer a safer election here in the province of Saskatchewan.
“I’m from Saskatchewan, but I have worked internationally for more than two decades and I’ve worked in situations where there was threats of terrorism, war, natural disasters, but this is my first pandemic.
“It’s a different scenario and election administrators around the world are facing something very different in this context, but at the same time the reinforcement of our democracy is extremely important. This is not just an essential service, group governance is integral to maintaining the life we have here in Canada. That’s why we’re taking this so seriously and we hope voters will as well.”
Although Boda doesn’t oversee municipal elections—taking place November 9—he has been giving guidance to municipal officials on how they could conduct this year’s election with Covid-19 protocols in place.
“In Saskatchewan the Chief Electoral Officer does not run the municipal elections, that’s not my mandate, but the municipal legislation allows municipal officials to ask for advise from the Chief Electoral Officer.
“I was on the phone with them having discussions about how they might be more effective in what they’re doing and how my office can use the knowledge that I’ve gained working with Dr. Shahab and analyzing other electoral process so that we can have safer elections and processes here because the municipal election occurs just two weeks after the provincial election. We’re trying to align our priorities and offer some consistency in terms of the PPE and how we can make the processes safer.
“We are working long days, that’s how elections work. Every four years we have a lot of work over the four year period in working with legislators, changing legislation, making preparations, and now we’re nearly at the implementation phase where we’re no longer planning, but actually implementing it. It takes this long to implement for an October election and Covid-19 increases that pressure.”
