Elections Saskatchewan to deliver ballots to homes in northern First Nation dealing with COVID-19 outbreak

In an attempt to keep voters safe, an Elections Saskatchewan employee will be travelling to people's houses on the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) this week and handing out ballot kits to anyone who successfully applied for one.

On Friday, the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority declared an outbreak in the PBCN community of Southend after seven COVID-19 cases were discovered.

After talking with the elections office, the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation chief and council decided that in-person election day polls could not be held safely.

The First Nation asked for help. Anyonein the community interested in voting in the next provincial election wasasked to call Elections Saskatchewan and apply for a ballot kit.

After the kit is dropped off at a house, the elections worker will return closer to election day and retrieve it. The ballotwill be processed and tallied in Prince Albert.

"The key for Elections Saskatchewan is that the option is available there, that the barrier has been been reduced," said CEO Michael Boda.

The situation at Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation is part of a larger initiative called extraordinary voting, which has been planned for since May.

Knowing there would likely be COVID-19 positive people who would want to vote in the election, Elections Saskatchewan designed a system where a courier would drop ballot packages off for anyone who had tested positive.

The system was slightly adapted in the north. Since there is no courier system that travels as far as Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, an elections worker will do the work.

While the deadline to apply for the ballots is Tuesday at 5 p.m. CST, Elections Saskatchewan has been trying to get the word out.

"We have been working hard with the chiefs to make sure that that message is being spread to everyone in those communities," said Boda.

"Everyone, every household, whether it's a member or non-member, is receiving a note at the door telling them about these deadlines."

Boda said his group has made a commitment to increasing the number of polls on First Nations. While there were 76 polls on First Nations in 2011, Elections Saskatchewan is now running more than double that amount, with 164 polls this election.

Other First Nations dealing with COVID-19have taken different approaches. Red Earth Cree Nation, which remains in lockdown after 11 new cases have been found, has said it does not want to break its lockdown, so a polling station has been set up at the nearby Shoal Lake reserve in the event it is lifted before election day.

The Lac La Ronge Indian Band has decided to hold in-person polls, despite the presence of COVID-19 in several communities.

Elections Saskatchewan said it has received more than 61,000 mail-in ballots this year from voters across the province.

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