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Regina recorded a slight increase in voters for Monday’s municipal election, but the turnout was still disappointing for election officials.
Twenty-one per cent of eligible voters — a total of 41,257 people — voted in this year’s municipal election. That was a slight increase from 2016’s record low turnout of 20 per cent of eligible voters and 36,656 ballots cast.
Jim Nicol, the City of Regina’s chief returning officer, was disappointed with the low turnout.
“What are the other 79 per cent doing? But again, that’s not for me to speculate on,” Nicol said Thursday. “The election office works very hard to ensure that voters have many options.
“More people voted this year than in 2016. But overall the voter turnout percentage is still very, very low. From a governance perspective, that doesn’t make me feel good.”
Voter fatigue was believed to be a factor in the low turnout, according to Nicol. He noted there previously were concerns flagged that voter fatigue and confusion were real possibilities with the provincial and municipal elections so close together.
There was also a greater increase in people inquiring about mail-in ballots, with a little over 4,900 votes being cast through that system.
Nicol believes the city’s aggressive approach towards pushing for awareness regarding mail-in ballots was a great help in getting the message across.
“We made voting incredibly easy and accessible for people. We had three days of advance polls (and) we had a very aggressive push and encouragement for people to use mail-in ballots. We had the drive-thru (kiosk next to City Hall), which is becoming increasingly popular,” Nicol claimed.
There are talks of recounts ongoing in the United States, but there aren’t any plans for anyone to inquire about a recount in this year’s civic election.
“There is a particular formula that we would have to look at to determine if that met the threshold or not. The history is in Regina that when we have had recounts — and we haven’t had many — they typically do not change,” Nicol said. “We’re very confident in the electronic vote tabulating machinery that we have.”
Mayor-elect Sandra Masters is to be sworn in Nov. 23, with meetings already taking place to get her up to speed. Masters unseated incumbent Michael Fougere in the race for the mayor’s chair.
Nicol added there is a lot of work to be done in the following weeks and that everyone is on board for the process.
“There’s a transition, and there’s an accepted understanding that there are things and information that needs to be shared so she can hit the ground running as the chair of council,” he said.
“I think the general mood is excitement. And I think all the new people on council are coming to understand that it’s a big commitment.”
Voters sent six new faces to council: Masters, Cheryl Stadnichuk (Ward 1), Daniel LeBlanc (Ward 6), Terina Shaw (Ward 7), Shanon Zachidniak (Ward 8) and Landon Mohl (Ward 10).
Bob Hawkins (Ward 2), Andrew Stevens (Ward 3), Lori Bresciani (Ward 4), John Findura (Ward 5) and Jason Mancinelli (Ward 9) are returning for another term on council.
