Elections Sask. says vote early if you can because 'anything is possible'

Saskatchewan's chief electoral officer Michael Boda wants people to vote in the provincial election as soon as possible.

Early voting opens Tuesday and runs until Saturday, before pausing on Sunday and then reopening for election day on Oct. 28.

"There is no 'better day' to vote during voting week and we encourage voters to cast their ballot before the last day," Boda said in a voting week briefing on Monday.

"Who knows? We could be hit by an atmospheric river — or more likely a snowstorm — but anything is possible."

Boda was referencing last weekend's election day storm in B.C. that caused power outages and closed several polling stations.

WATCH | Sask.'s chief electoral officer on what you need to know about voting in provincial election:

Sask.'s chief electoral officer on what you need to know about voting in provincial election

1 month ago

Duration 9:56

Michael Boda is Saskatchewan's chief electoral officer. He spoke with Peter Mills, host of The 306, about mail-in ballots, voting early and other practical information ahead of the provincial election on Oct. 28.

Elections Saskatchewan is opening 303 polling stations across the province for early voting, running 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 22-26. 

About 811,000 residents are registered to vote in the provincial election, including 32,405 people voting by mail-in-ballot, down from the roughly 56,000 in the 2020 election held during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We had anticipated that but it is excellent pickup for us in terms of broadening access to people that are out there," Boda said. "The goal was really not to introduce vote-by-mail until 2028. COVID really expedited that."

Once the polls close at 8 p.m. on Oct. 28, hundreds of election workers will start counting the ballots by hand. Boda said he expects the count to last until midnight.

Last year, the Sask. Party government voted to ban counting machines in the provincial election, rejecting a recommendation from Boda.

A slow start to provincial election results in Alberta last year led to a ban on the use of electronic tabulators in that province's municipal elections. Elections Alberta said there were no issues with the tabulators.

Elections Saskatchewan is taking a proactive approach given what happened next door as well as the attention on election integrity in the U.S. election.

"With the U.S. federal election underway, the issue of election integrity has been brought to the forefront, likely in a way that will affect us in Saskatchewan," Boda said.

"Elections Saskatchewan is currently running a campaign that stresses that the general public has a role in election integrity. We have created a series of videos available on our website that encourage voters to check the facts."

• Follow more Saskatchewan election coverage, including full news conferences, on CBC Saskatchewan's YouTube page.

• How do Saskatchewan's parties compare on these election issues?

A full rundown of where you can vote, the locations of special polling stations and voter accommodations is available at the Elections Saskatchewan website.