Saskatoon mayoral candidates worried about voter turnout in wake of provincial election results

Saskatoon mayoral candidates are expressing concerns about voter turnout for the city's Nov. 9 civic election in the wake of low voter participation during this week's provincial election.

According to Elections Saskatchewan, a total of 426,675 people voted in the provincial contest, including more than 40,000 people who mailed their ballots, making for a 50.1 per cent voter turnout among eligible voters.

That's compared to 434,244 voters, and a 53.5 per cent voter turnout, in 2016.

"If there's one thing that I saw yesterday when I went to vote, it was some low voter turnout," Saskatoon mayoral candidate Rob Norris said during a campaign announcement Tuesday.

"I really recognize that it is a big commitment for people to get out and vote [during a pandemic]."

Norris said he's heard "real interest" in the civic election during door knocking and praised city officials for their efforts to get the vote out.

"There's a lot of interest in the drive-thru voting. I think that's really innovative. What I'm hearing at the doors is that people wish there was more than kind of just one option on that drive-thru voting." 

Drivers will be able to vote at a station at 422 46th Street East this Sunday.

Mayor Charlie Clark, who is seeking a second term, said the city has long been wary of having the two elections so close together. 

He said the onslaught of elections, including the U.S. federal election on Nov. 3 six days before the civic election, would add "a lot of noise and distraction that would make it difficult for voters to navigate all the information and be able to keep the municipal issues on the radar."

When you throw in the pandemic, "certainly I think that voter turnout is something to be concerned about," Clark said, though he echoed Norris in highlighting the many options available to voters.

Don Atchison, the former mayor looking to reclaim his perch, said the civic election turnout has typically trailed that of the provincial election.

Voter turnout in the Atchison-Clark election of 2016 was 40 per cent, according to that election's summary report. 

"That's always a concern to me because I would really hope that every person would get out to vote," Atchison said. "I don't think people realize what civic government can do and can't do to help make their life better."