March 31, 2016: Writ Period Bulletin for Field Leadership Team

This issue of the Writ Period Bulletin for Field Leadership Team includes articles on:

  • Email IT the Names of Those Entering Election Results into ESPREE;
  • Remaining Personal Care Home VICs To Be Distributed;
  • Ensuring Ballots, Voters Lists, Ballot Boxes and Other Election Materials are in the Hands of DROs;
  • Final Accessibility Check of Polling Locations; and
  • Elections Saskatchewan Year-End Processing.

Email IT the Names of Those Entering Election Results into ESPREE

Elections SK wants to ensure that all those who will be entering election results into ESPREE on election night have access to ESPREE.

ROs, please send a quick email to IT ([email protected]) by Friday April 1 that states the first and last name of the person you have assigned to enter election results into ESPREE so we can ensure that they have access to ESPREE.

Remaining Personal Care Home VICs to be Distributed

The remaining voter information cards (VICs) for personal care homes will be sent to ROs by Friday April 1, 2016. You will need to distribute these VICs to the administrators of their respective personal care homes before election day.

There are two ways that ROs may receive these VICs:

  • By courier, if being printed and distributed by Doculink; and
  • As an electronic file from Elections SK. ROs are to print the electronic VICs in-office.

If you have any questions about this process or think you should have received additional VICs and didn’t, please call Jordan Arendt at 306-531-2373.

Ensuring Ballots, Voters Lists, Ballot Boxes and Other Election Materials are in the Hands of DROs

You will need to ensure your DROs have all the materials they will need for election day. The Poll Officials Kit – E-399 you were provided with contains the following items:

  • Poll Book – E-311;
  • Ballot Paper Account and Poll Statement – E-312;
  • Official Seals – E-334;
  • Template for visually impaired voters – E-310; and
  • Forms and envelopes to conduct and close the poll and report results.

In addition, you will need to provide:

  • Ballots (totals to be distributed are in ESPREE);
  • Official Voters List for the particular polling division;
  • Ballot box;
  • Voting screen; and
  • Guidance of Voters poster for the voting screen.

Remember from your training that the ballot boxes have bar codes and are specific to each poll location and poll and you must provide the assigned ballot box to the appropriate poll.

The first 2 letters of the code will be BB, which stands for Ballot Box. The next 2 numbers designate your constituency. The next 2 letters refer to the type of poll.

  • RP stands for Regular Poll;
  • AP stands for Advance Poll;
  • MP stands for Mobile Poll;
  • HB stands for Homebound Poll;
  • AB stands for Absentee Ballots;
  • SP stands for Special Poll; and
  • SPA stands for Spare Ballot Box

The final set of numbers refers to the poll number. So, for example, make sure the DRO for regular poll 7 receives the ballot box with the bar code – BB-xx-RP-07. Spare ballot boxes are used in cases where a poll has to be split, or for adding a second Homebound team or for additional mobile polls. If you need to use a Spare ballot box, make sure you call the Support Desk at 1-866-249-7186 and select option 3 or email Amanda at [email protected] and let us know what number box you are using and for what purpose so that our barcode database can be updated.

Final Accessibility Check of Polling Locations

Two issues of the Writ Period Bulletin, one distributed on March 18 and another on March 23, included articles on ensuring voter accessibility at the polls. In these articles, we asked FLT members to do two things:

  • Assign someone who is comfortable with using wrenches and can comfortably lift up to 40 pounds to install accessibility remediation products at polling locations the day before election day; and
  • Confirm with facility managers that each polling place meets Elections SK’s standards for voter accessibility.

By now you will have found someone to install ramps and other accessibility aids at each polling location where these aids are needed. Likewise, Supervisory Deputy Returning Officers (SDROs) will be making arrangements with facility managers prior to election day to gain access to their assigned polling locations. If the SDRO makes arrangements to meet facility managers at a polling location, it provides an excellent opportunity for the SDRO to identify any new accessibility issues.

If your team discovers that an accessibility issue persists that you cannot resolve, or if you have any accessibility questions or problems with your accessibility products, please contact the Support Desk at 1-866-249-7186 and select option 3 for Operations.

Elections Saskatchewan Year-End Processing

Today is the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year for ESK and we require the following information:

  1. Returning Officer’s Cheque Register (Form E-154) is required by tomorrow (April 1, 2016) for poll rental cheques written up to March 31. Cheque Registers should be e-mailed to [email protected].

We require a response from all ROs. If no cheques were written, please send an        e-mail to Finance indicating that.

  1. Invoices from suppliers for goods/services received prior to March 31 should be sent in for payment as soon as possible.

Email any approved invoices, including invoices for ballot printing, to [email protected] before Monday, April 4, 2016.

  1. All purchase card support for transactions processed up to April 3 must be sent to [email protected] no later than Friday, April 8, 2016.