The City of Yorkton will head to the polls this fall to select the mayor and council for the next four years. What will that election look like? The Yorkton Voter鈥檚 Survey is intended to canvass the needs of voters in the community, and seek their input on how the election is handled, from the number of polling stations to the viability of advanced polls and vote by mail options.
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Jessica Matsalla with the City of Yorkton said that one of the goals of the survey is to identify if there are barriers to people voting in the city.听
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The questions ask if people would be willing to go to one polling station from three, look if people are willing to vote in an advance poll, and if people are willing to vote by mail-in ballot. She said they鈥檙e also trying to ensure they listen to input surrounding safety because the election is coming following COVID-19, where people might be more concerned about the crowds that are inherent in an election.
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The goal, ultimately, will be to find ways to remove barriers, because the city wants to have a higher turnout in municipal elections, Matsalla said, and that means doing what they can to make voting easier for more people.
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鈥淲e have had a 28-30 per cent voter rate since the 鈥�60s. We see higher rates coming out to federal elections and provincial elections, so we want to stress that people鈥檚 voices count when it comes to municipal leaders.鈥�
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This is the start of the election process, and Matsalla said they will be delivering a lot of information in the coming months to help people vote for the next Mayor and Council.
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To take the poll visit yorkton.ca or by returning a paper version of the survey which is being delivered to mailboxes of residents. The poll is due back by June 26.
