Saskatchewan election moved to April 2016

(The Canadian Press)

Saskatchewan’s 28th general election date has been moved to April 4, 2016, as a result of the federal election call.

The overlap between a federal and provincial election means the provincial election date moves to the first Monday in April of the following year, according the Legislative Assembly Act.

The federal election period now overlaps with the previously scheduled provincial election, which was set for Nov. 2, 2015. Canada’s 42nd federal election will be held Oct. 19.

For Saskatchewan’s 27th general election in 2011, there were 58 constituencies. Now, voters will have the opportunity to vote for a member of the legislative assembly in one of 61 constituencies.

“The 28th General Election will be the largest electoral event in the history of the province,” said Michael Boda, Saskatchewan’s chief electoral officer, in a media release. “We anticipate serving over 800,000 eligible voters and employing 10,000 workers on election day.”

This provincial election will also be the first election since the proclamation of The Election Amendment Act in December 2014.

The Saskatchewan government adopted 11 legislative amendments aimed at modernizing the province’s electoral process and increasing accessibility to voters.

The introduction of a permanent register of voters, the implementation of homebound voting for disabled voters, the availability of advance voting for all voters and other modifications were included in the amendments.