Moe says fall election will happen under the ‘new normal’

Predicting what’s going to happen just a couple of weeks from now can be difficult, let alone what might happen in six months due to COVID-19.

But planning still is underway for the fall provincial election.

“We are preparing for an election on Oct. 26 in Saskatchewan, and it is my expectation that the chief electoral officer will be preparing and I’m certain that he is — in fact, I know that he is — preparing for every advent of ensuring that we conduct a safe election in Saskatchewan,” Premier Scott Moe said Wednesday.

The chief electoral officer had said that he would like to see an advisory board put together for election operations and that things like personal protective equipment and larger polling spaces will be needed.

Moe said his government is making every effort inside and outside the electoral part of the conversation to make sure things are safe for people. But he warned that things will likely be different in the election, just like shopping now is different than it was three months ago.

“We are entering a time of a new normal where things are different than they were just a few months ago, and that will, quite likely, include how we conduct an election here this fall in Saskatchewan,” said Moe.

Moe said he has every confidence the chief electoral officer will be able to put in the parameters during the election to keep people safe, just like the parameters businesses that are still open have had to follow during the pandemic.