Poll worker reflects on Saskatchewan’s provincial election

Article content

My family and I watch election nights with the same enthusiasm others watch the Grey Cup, but my only real engagement with the voting system was as a voter — until this year.

So, there I was on Oct. 21, standing in a reflective vest and opening the doors to the first wave of early voters. I served as information officer for the Chief Mistawasis riding in north Saskatoon.

Article content

Our poll had a supervisor, two information officers and three voting stations, each with a deputy returning officer (DRO) and a ballot box officer (BBO). In addition, we had party scrutineers throughout.

Watching and participating in the process was insightful. The good news is that most voters took less than two minutes to register, vote and cast their ballot. Even in the evening of the final day for voting, the wait was only 10 minutes.

Voters often stood around afterwards and asked questions, which offered a window into some of their thoughts and concerns.

Some were worried that the wrong people might be voting. The rules say anyone over 18 who is a Canadian citizen and a resident of the province for at least six months can vote.

The province had a registry constructed from health card and other public records. Most voters had their voter registration card and one piece of ID and got their ballot. Voters without cards simply needed their drivers licence to claim their ballot if they were on the voters list. Anyone not registered could produce more documentation or someone on the voters list could vouch for them.

Article content

Article content

We only had a handful of vouched voters out of about 4,000 votes cast at our poll.

Others were concerned about the integrity of the ballot boxes. I learned that breaching them would be next to impossible. The boxes were built and inspected by multiple officials, including party observers, then closed and secured with a signed seal. Every night, the slot in the box was sealed and the boxes were taken home by the DROs. Every morning, the seals were checked by at least three officials/observers before the slot was opened.

There were also four separate checks on each ballot before it got into the box. Multiple times during the week and when the ballots were counted, poll workers ensured the number of names checked off the voters list, the number of ballots in the box, the number of receipts held by the BBO and the number of stubs all tallied.

Once the poll closed, about a dozen election officials and accredited party workers arrived for the count.

Each of our six boxes (holding about 500 ballots) was opened at a different table in the presence of a returning officer, a BBO and, at my table, two accredited party representatives.

Article content

Votes were brought out and unfolded one at a time, with the returning office calling out the result and showing the BBO and the witnesses the actual ballot before putting it in the pile designated for that candidate.

In the end, all of us had to witness that the box was empty and all ballots were counted. The vote was tallied by multiple observers and recorded on formal reports; all the materials were then resealed in the ballot box. If any party or official doubts the count, there are official recounts and even recourse to a judge for disputes.

While some voters were confused — they were looking to vote for or against federal or municipal candidates — and a few wanted to vote for the premier and not their local MLA, I was pleased to find that most voted with confidence.

Our team enthusiastically welcomed first-time voters, both the young and new citizens. They were always the most excited to exercise their franchise.

My one disappointment was the overall turnout.

While the turnout for our riding reached 63 per cent, the popular vote in the province barely inched over 56 per cent, up from a dismal 53 per cent in 2020.

Article content

We still have work to do to make our elections truly inclusive, transparent and meaningful.

Peter WB Phillips is Distinguished University Professor Emeritus from the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan.

Our websites are your destination for up-to-the-minute Saskatchewan news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and leaderpost.com. For Regina Leader-Post newsletters click here; for Saskatoon StarPhoenix newsletters click here

Article content