And that’s a major concern for some, including Coronach resident Megan Tretheway, who recently contacted MooseJawToday.com through Facebook seeking an explanation for what she and others view as an exceptionally dangerous situation.
“I recently learned that Saskatchewan Elections has set up to have voting in our school that has grades K-12 students,” Tretheway said. “For early elections it’s a seniors centre but on Monday that day of election they are allowing the entire community to come into our school to cast their votes.
“I believe this is absolutely horrific,” she added. “The government has told us that we have to follow all these rules during this pandemic and that put children’s and teachers’ safety is a priority. And then this is allowed? Us as parents are even allowed in the school to pick up kids, etc but they are allowing this to happen!”
Tretheway is a member of the Facebook group Safe Schools Saskatchewan, which offers a venue for parents to express concerns and offer information on keeping schools safe during the pandemic.
One of her questions was why other venues in communities all over the province — like unused recreation centres, hockey and curling rinks — aren’t being used in place of schools, especially in light of their current lack of use compared to educational buildings.
Dr. Michael Boda, Chief Electoral Officer for Saskatchewan, offered comments through his office to try and assuage those concerns and bring some clarification.
First and foremost, is cost and accessibility.
The rates that are paid to facilities that are used for election are set in legislation, and many larger venues and halls would outstrip those rates. That’s on top of facilities not being open to host polls or having the necessary accessibility standards.
“Elections Saskatchewan is working hard to make voting safe for our election officials, for voters and for members of the community,” Dr. Boda said. “We have almost doubled the number of polling locations that will be used on election day and schools are an integral part of this. There are simply not enough halls, churches or leisure centres available across the province.”
Elections Sask has also worked closely with government organizations in order to ensure the entire voting process is conducted as safely as possible, especially when it comes to schools.
“Election officials will be disinfecting polling places every two hours while the polls are open and additional workers will be added to ensure polls are not congested and that voters leave the polls immediately after voting,” Dr. Boda explained, adding that additional fees for cleaning were negotiated outside of the set rates. “This is intended to cover the enhanced cleaning at schools that are used as polling locations.”
To see a full breakdown of the steps taken to keep polling areas safe, including schools, check out www.elections.sk.ca/voters/covid-19/.
