Saskatchewan voters flock to polling stations on federal election day

Around a dozen people were lined up at one polling station in Regina before it opened on Monday.

A steady flow of people rolled in to cast their votes in the first hour after the opening of the polling station at Regina’s Core Ritchie Neighbourhood Centre, which is in the Regina-Wascana riding. Many voters said it was a quick process, and they were in and out in a matter of five minutes.

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Barclay Krause said he’s noticed more people talking about this election than he has in previous federal elections.

“It seems like everybody has feelings for sure, one way or the other,” he said. “Even seeing the advance polling, it looks like everybody’s actually willing to do something about it, so that’s good.”

Allison LeForte said she feels it’s very important to cast a ballot.

“As a woman, I feel it’s important to vote,” LeForte said.

“It’s important to vote to let the political leaders know that it is the people who hold the power to vote, and it’s important to remind them how we want our country run.”

Brayden Metz said he voted for the Liberal Party in the last federal election.

“This time, I’m switching sides,” he said.

“It’s good to make sure everyone gets out and votes,” Metz added. “I had very few things that swayed me to vote Liberal again this year. I hope we get the change we need.”

While some voters said they had a difficult time choosing which party to support in the 2025 election, Josh Alton said the decision was an easy one for him.

“I spend a lot of my time looking at political issues and looking at issues around the globe, so no, this time I did not have a difficult time choosing,” Alton said.

“But that doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t have a difficult time choosing. It’s not supposed to be easy. We get to vote maybe once every four years, and it has a big impact, and we can’t take it back after we do.”

Oscar Burdick said he is voting for a future for his one-year-old son, and he said he has heard a lot of people talking more about voting this year.

“There’s been a lot more talk, especially because my age group has just kind of gotten into the voting group age now. We’re definitely all talking about it. We’re all excited, and we’re all hopeful for the future,” he said.

Leighanne Bousfield said the decision on who to vote for was an easy one for her.

“I’m the kind of person who always likes to tiptoe the fence. I like to look at both sides, but this particular election did not show me looking. I am not a biased person, but I definitely know who I’m voting for,” she said.

However, Bousfield said not all of her peers are voting the same way.

“I can think of at least five of my friends that I know are voting the same as me and at least five that are not,” Bousfield explained.

“It is quite an interesting time, and everybody is talking about this election like it is a do-or-die kind of thing and you know, maybe it is.”

Election worker pleased with advance voter turnout

It’s a busy day for election workers across Canada.

Advanced voting in this election saw historic turnout, with around 7.3 million people voting early. According to Elections Canada, that’s an increase of almost two million people from the 5.8 million that voted in the advance polls in 2021.

Ken Nordick, a central poll supervisor in Saskatoon, said it’s encouraging to see so many getting out and casting their ballots.

“It’s great. It’s a democracy; you have to vote, otherwise it’s worthless,” he said. “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.”

Nordick is stationed at the SaskAbilities headquarters in Saskatoon, and said the polling station average around 650 voters during each of the four days of advance voting.

“We had over 2,600 voters at this location,” he said.

Not many changes were made to the voting station between the end of advance voting and election day on Monday.

“It’s a little simpler today,” Nordick said. “There’s some extra work that we have to do at advance polls just to be able to update our lists, so it’s a little easier on people today.”

There are three voting stations inside the building with around eight election workers helping ensure the process runs smoothly. Nordick said they will probably be busy working until 10 p.m.

“After the polls close at 7:30, we have to close up and then we have to do our count,” he said.

“The ballot box gets opened, the (deputy returning officer) pulls ballots out one at a time, reads the name. One of our workers is a tabulator, so they keep track of the votes.”

After the count is complete, the results will be phoned into Elections Canada, and Nordick said if all things go well the count at his polling station should take less than two hours to complete.

Nordick said he’s seen a steady stream of people voting on Monday, and expects to see things pick up even more in the late afternoon.

–with files from 650 CKOM’s Will Mandzuk