Sask. electoral officer wants to start conversation about voter turnout

Along line of people snakesthrough a field in the township of Soweto, in the city of Johannesburg. It's South Africa's first election with universal adult suffrage, in 1994.

We have to see it as our genuine duty to be part of this process.- MichaelBoda,Saskatchewan's chief electoral officer

They are captured in a framed photograph hanging in the office of Saskatchewan's chief electoral officer Michael Boda.

"It reminds me on a daily basis of the importance of democracy," said Boda. "Those people in South Africa wanted desperately to be involved in that democratic process and they have continued down that road."

Bodabelieves the same fibre runs through Saskatchewan, which he said has been a beacon of democratic success for more than a century.

However, with news from Elections Saskatchewan this week that nearly half ofeligible voters did not bother to vote in the last provincial election in April 2016, people willneed to reflect on whether "we are taking this for granted," Boda said.

• OPINION: Provincial election voter turnout 'disturbing,' says chief electoral officer

The final overall provincial voter turnout based on the number of registered voters was 56.8 per cent. However, the report does note that since not all voters wereregistered, the true voter turnout on the basis of the number of eligible voters is estimated to be closer to 53.5 per cent.

Navigatethe map to see voter turnout resultsfor each constituency and polling station during the 2016 election.

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CBC News analysed and mapped the results down to the voting station to illustrate neighbourhoods within each constituency that have below-average turnouts.

Many areas in the Athabasca, Lloydminster and Regina Elphinstone-Centre constituencieshad polling stations with below 20 per cent turnouts.

In contrast, some constituencies, such as Arm River, Lumsden-Morse and Regina Wascana Plains, had several polling stations with over 70 per cent turnouts.

Strong turnouts in past years

In the 1982 provincial election, nearly 80 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot. But in the decades since, the numbers have been dropping.

Boda said his office tries to remove any barriers that prevent people from voting by providing voter information in a variety of languages, for instance.

But he said having people get as excited to be part of democracy in Saskatchewan as they do in South Africa or other countries which have been denied that right will take a broader effort.

"It takes a different approach and it can't be just, 'Oh there's a very interesting race going on;I think I'll participate,' said Boda. "It means we have to see it as our genuine duty to be part of this process."

Boda said if he knew exactly what was driving lower voter turnout, he would begin to address it. For now, he said he wants to start the conversation in Saskatchewan.

Notes and methodology:

• Raw polling resultswere provided by Elections Saskatchewan.
• In cases where the results of a polling division were merged into another polling division by Elections Saskatchewan, the total pooled results were applied to the contributing polling stations.
• In five instances, the voter turnout for a polling station exceeds100 per cent. This is due to the fact that more eligible voters cast a ballot at these locations than had originally been registered.
• Calculations and analysisperformed by Jacques Marcoux,CBC News.