Vote-by-mail returns for Saskatchewan voters ahead of 2024 election

Vote-by-mail is back again for the upcoming 2024 provincial election — applications opened on Tuesday.

Michael Boda, Chief Electoral Officer of Saskatchewan, was excited to announce the opening of the application process.

“It’s not too early, it’s a great time to make your application,” he said.

“Vote-by-mail has two steps to it. The first step is to apply which anyone can do now. The second step in the fall, once the election is called, is when accepted applicants will receive their ballot kits in the mail. The voter then completes the kit according to instructions and mails it back to us. It is that easy.”

While mail-in votes aren’t a new concept, Elections Saskatchewan is emphasizing that anyone can do it now, a reason doesn’t need to be given for an absentee vote.

“In 2020, we had gone from an antiquated approach to absentee voting, in which fewer than one per cent of our voters made use of this kind of process to about 13 per cent of voters in 2020 who made use of these ballots,” he said.

“The first time we used vote-by-mail broadly was 2020 during COVID. We found it to be extremely popular.”

In the 2016 provincial election, there were only 4,400 mail-in applications. — in 2020 the number jumped to 61,000 applications.

“We had to adjust many elements of the election, working closely with legislatures, parties and the media in 2020 — that’s a relief that we don’t have to do that,” said Boda.

“In this case, what we’re doing is we’re able to focus increasingly on broadening access to voters across the province through our modernization efforts. This means vote-by-mail can be regularized, whereas we had not planned to put vote-by-mail in place until 2028 as part of my proposal to the legislative assembly. but COVID-19 required that we did that.

“We built it very quickly. We got very positive feedback on it. The preparations are really about leaning into the modernization effort that we’ve been working on for a number of years and making sure we’re broadening access to voters.”

The focus for this year’s election is accessibility, according to Boda.

“This is one activity crossed off the list for busy parents,” he said. “Or the university student who is leaving the province for their fall semester studies. This can also be really important for someone living in a rural or remote area of the province where it’s not easy to get to in-person voting, or for a senior who would rather vote from the comfort of their own home, or a snowbird leaving early to escape the prarie winter.”

Elections Saskatchewan is currently working with around 200 independent living facilities across the province to inform them about their voting options.

He wants to ensure the public that voting-by-mail is trustworthy.

“What I do know based on other juristictions in Canada is that the more times a vote-by-mail system is used, the greater the trust in the system, and there’s an increased number of people who make use in it,” he said.

As for the province using electronic vote-counting equipment, Boda said there are no plans to use it this time around. The provincial government turned down expanding the use of electronic equipment after it was used in the recent by-election to great success.

“We will not be using vote-counting equipment in this eleciton,” he said. “What we’ve done is we’ve made adjustments for how the counting will unfold. Over the coming months I want to offer more insight into how the voting will unfold across the province.”

While many people have summer on their minds, Boda said it isn’t too early to start thinking about the upcoming election.

“While an October election might seem a long way off in the early days of June, it is actually just around the corner,” he said.