Curbside, drive-thru voting coming to Regina for municipal election

Regina voters will be casting their ballots on Nov. 9 but not everyone will be doing it at a traditional polling station.

If a person chooses to not wear a mask or does not pass the screening questions at the door, Elections Regina says they will be asked to do confidential "curbside voting."

"It remains safe. That remains confidential; it's just that we want to respect the safety of everybody," Jim Nicol, the city clerk and returning officer, said.

People will be able to vote from inside their vehicle or from the sidewalk.Another option for people to cast their ballots is to go to the drive-thru polling station at City Hall. The drive-thru poll will be open during the advancepolls.

Elections Regina said it is following all Saskatchewan Health Authority Public Health Orders at in-person polling sites.Elections Regina said voters are encouraged to wear a mask at the polls, but they are not mandatory. Masks are, however, mandatory for election officials working the polls.

"We are also reminding people the safety steps that we have taken to ensure that voters, election workers, people who may be working in a school or a community centre where a polling station is going to be located, that they remain safe and that they feel they should feel safe," Nicol said.

Some of the precautions being taken are:

• Aggressive screening protocols when people enter.
• Providing people entering the building with masks.
• Having extra cleaning staff for sanitizing people's hands when entering and leaving the station.
• Plastic barriers between workers and voters when voters give their information.
• Wiping everything down in between voters.
• Rope lines to ensure physical distancing when people cast their ballots in private.
• Physical distancing for workers.

Advancepolls for the election are on Nov. 2, 3 and 4. Polling stations are open for election day on Nov. 9 from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. CST.