January 15, 2015
In the November 6 issue of the Newsfeed, I presented a plan to evaluate ESK’s delivery of the 28th General Election. I outlined three main components of the assessment, one of which was an examination of the extent to which the “clients” of ESK are satisfied with the services we provide. It should be our goal to ensure that satisfaction levels remain high among our stakeholders from one election to the next.
As a stakeholder group, eligible voters should be of particular interest to us. To understand this groups’ thinking better, 1,200 voters and 1,200 non-voters from across the province will be surveyed about their satisfaction with ESK’s delivery of the General Election. The survey will inquire about voters’ satisfaction with a broad range of activities and services offered by ESK, including but not limited to: satisfaction with the polling stations, usefulness of our information service options, perceptions of accessibility, and clarity of voting instructions. It is important to gather opinions from voters and non-voters, individuals from rural and urban areas, and eligible voters of all ages to ensure that we develop a comprehensive understanding of the concerns of all Saskatchewan residents, their perceptions of ESK, and their satisfaction with our services.
ESK has contracted the University of Saskatchewan’s Social Sciences Research Laboratories (SSRL) to conduct the survey, which will be accomplished by contacting a random sample of Saskatchewan residents over the telephone. The SSRL has 43 telephone stations available and an experienced student workforce. They will be contacting residents immediately after election day, throughout the month of April.
At present, work is being done to identify the critical themes that will be investigated by the survey and to develop appropriate survey questions. I am keen for the Field Leadership Team to have an opportunity to contribute to the development of this survey. It is intended therefore to invite approximately 20 members of the FLT to two focus group meetings planned for early 2016. During the focus group meetings, members of the FLT will be asked to provide feedback on the proposed survey questions and topics to ensure they make sense and will give us useful information on which we can base improvement strategies.
I will continue to keep you apprised of the evolution of the assessment through future editions of the Newsfeed. Next time, I will give you more information on the other planned surveys, in particular, surveys of poll workers and the FLT. If you have questions or comments, please be in touch with Jeff Kress or Bonnie Schenher.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael Boda
Chief Electoral Officer
Province of Saskatchewan