New Democrat leader Ryan Meili is accusing the government of attempting to gerrymander and suppress First Nations voting. He is calling on Premier Scott Moe to write a joint letter to the Chief Electoral Officer to put more polling stations on reserve.
“When you [government] introduced voter ID requirements, which were done in a way that wound up decreasing the ability of First Nations people to vote,” Meili said. “In the design of the constituency changes the election boundaries last time, it was done in such a way that made it so that communities with more young people were actually less represented, because they only counted people over 18, which means First Nations communities were given less influence on the ultimate vote.”
Attorney General Don Morgan says the government is well aware of the concerns of First Nations voter turnout. He says in the 2011 election there were approximately 60 polling stations on reserve. In the 2016 election, 160 ballot boxes on reserve dismissing the accusation of voter suppression.
He says the government has urged the Chief Electoral Officer to ensure there were enough resources for First Nations voting. “I want to see everybody in this province that is entitled to vote able to cast a ballot and actually does get out and do it. I want to make sure that we have every system available that everybody that is entitled to vote, votes,” Morgan said.
Statistics for on-reserve Aboriginal voter turnout in the 2015 federal election was 67.1 percent, up from 50 percent in the 2011 vote.
(PHOTO: Ballot Box. Courtesy of Elections Saskatchewan.)