5 polling places open for Saskatoon voters on Friday

Saskatoon voters who were not able to make it to the polls after this week's blizzardwill have another chance to cast their ballot.

Polls will reopen on Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., after closingearly on Monday night due to the storm which dumped an estimated 15 to 20 centimetresof snowSunday, leaving manyroads impassable.

However, far fewer polling locations will be availablefive, spread throughout the city, rather than the 65 that were operating Monday.

Voters will be able to cast their ballots at:

• Cosmo Civic Centre.
• Lawson Civic Centre.
• Lakewood Civic Centre.
• Shaw Centre.
• City Hall (Committee Room E).

Greg Poelzer, a professor of political science at the University of Saskatchewan, is concerned that Monday's late-in-the-day decision to continue the election on Friday, along with the drastically reduced number of polling places, may undermine voter confidence in the electoral process.

"The idea of postponing is a good one in and of itself," he said Tuesday."When you look at what's forecast for Friday's weather, that should certainly be better than yesterday's and should be, in principle, beneficial for turnout.

"[But] when we haven't had this run so smoothly all that doesn't really engender a lot of commitment, especially when we talk about how low civic engagement, civic voting, is in Canada."

As other municipalities across the province made their decisions to postpone election day Monday morning, when the province made that option available, a number of Saskatoon mayoral candidates called on Saskatoon to do the same.

Cary Tarasoff, Mark Zielke and Zubair Sheikh all called on the city's returning officer to "delay," "reschedule" or "press pause" on the election in the aftermath of the snowstorm.

Now, some candidates are also hoping the returning officer will expand the number of polling places available to voters on Friday.

Open more stations: candidates

While incumbent mayoral candidateCharlie Clark thanked the returning office and election workers for the work they have been doing to extend the election, he also thinksthe geographic locations of the planned polling places may make it difficult for some voters to cast their ballots.

"I think we need to make sure there are as many stations as possible, and spread out around the city," he said.

"I am concerned that, with only one polling place on the entire east side and a limited number in the core of the city, where people don't have vehicles, that if we see thousands more people wanting to get out to vote, there will be challenges in making sure those are accessible."

With more snow in the forecast for Wednesday,the roads in the city may not be fully clear by Friday.

Clark also raised concerns about physical distancing if many voters arrive at the polls at once.

"What we also don't want to have happen is to have people bunching up at polling stations, given the COVID case numbers."

Mayoral candidateRob Norris also expressed his confidence in the electoral process, but said voters have been bringing questions and concerns to him as well, particularly about where they will vote on Friday.

"When we think about safety in our era of the coronavirus, [on Monday], citizens across Saskatoon went to more than 60 different polling stations," he said.

"They had the relative safety of their home community, the security of being in familiar terrain and were, although challenged by the elements, familiar with how to get around their neighbourhoods."

Norris says he is "imploring" the returning officer to expand the number of polling stations throughout the city on Friday.

"Put safety first, allow for more voting stations and ensure people understand that they have more options closer to home," he said.

"I'm asking that this be taken seriously, be given due consideration and be addressed with a degree of urgency that the citizens of this city deserve."

Other candidates declined to express an opinion on the number of polling places scheduled for Friday, citing a lack of complete information and the importance of keeping politics out of election management.

Mayoral candidate Don Atchison saidregardless of the number of polling places available, candidates' first obligation is to respect the decision of the returning officer.

"I don't think there should be any political interference at all," he said. "I believe that the returning officer is trying to be as fair and impartial as possible for everyone.

"So that was their call, and whatever it was, that's what we have to live with. I just don't think the politicians should be getting involved now."