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Regina Mayor Michael Fougere is hoping an additional polling station in North Central will help boost voter turnout in the next municipal election.
In the 2016 election, only 20.4 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot. It was the worst turnout since 1978.
“We need to have better engagement,” Fougere said. “People are coming out to vote, following the issues and making a difference and making changes if needed.
“Having another polling station that’s there, both in North Central (and) on the east side of the city, will encourage those who otherwise may not vote to get out and vote.”
Speaking on the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Thursday, Fougere made the case for why people should engage with municipal politics. The city is responsible for services that affect the day-to-day lives of residents, like snow removal, emergency services and garbage collection.
The city has also changed when council meetings will happen. Instead of the last Monday of the month, council will meet the last Wednesday of each month, at 1:30 p.m.
The one-year experiment is to make meetings easier to attend for members of council with full-time jobs.
“(We’ll) try it for a year and see how it goes. I’m particularly interested in public engagement. If 1:30 is more difficult for people to come out as a delegation, we’ll have to revisit that very quickly,” Fougere said.
