Canada’s chief electoral officer last week said there is nothing he can do to correct an unexpected glitch for Saskatchewan in new election voting hours.
Jean-Pierre Kingsley said only Parliament could change the law and Parliament has been dissolved for the election.
The result is that, over protests from provincial politicians and a letter from premier Roy Romanow asking for a change, polls in 12 of Saskatchewan’s 14 ridings will be the last to close election night.
Churchill River and Battlefords-Lloydminster will vote according to Mountain time hours, with polls closing at 7:30 p.m. The other constituencies will vote on Central time, with polls closing at 8:30 p.m.
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The glitch occurred because the new elections act staggers voting hours across the country based on time zones.
In Central time, polls are open from 8:30 a.m to 8:30 p.m. In Mountain time, covering Alberta and western parts of Saskatchewan, polls close at 7:30 p.m. In British Columbia, polls close at 7 p.m.
Because Saskatchewan remains on standard time while the rest of the country switches in April to daylight saving, it means B.C. polls will close at 8 p.m., half an hour before local polls close in parts of Saskatchewan on Central time.
Kingsley told a May 1 news conference that as one of the architects of the new election law, he is partly to blame for the confusion.
He said he realized Saskatchewan did not switch time “but the practical implications of that escaped me.”
Some federal politicians have suggested Saskatchewan could fix the problem itself by joining the rest of the country when it switches to daylight saving.
