Saskatchewan residents continue to go to the polls in record early numbers as the province is the prime area for provincial elections.
Saturday was the last day of early voting in the governorate, with the polls open until 7:00 p.m.
According to new data from Elections Saskatchewan, the province has already broken early voting records.
More than 223,000 people cast early votes in the first four days of early voting, surpassing the record of 184,742 people who voted early in the 2020 election.
The high initial turnout comes as conflicting polls point to a dead end in the race between the incumbent Saskatchewan Party, led by Scott Moe, and the NDP, led by Carla Beck.
A poll by Mainstreet Research Results released Friday put the NDP ahead with 49 per cent compared to the Saskatchewan Party's 45 per cent among voters who decided to vote. Meanwhile, Cardinal Research. The poll was released Saturday and showed the Saskatchewan Party leading with 49 per cent compared to the NDP's 43 per cent.
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Both Beck and Moe were on the campaign trail again on Saturday, making one last stop in Saskatoon before official election day on Monday.
Beck appeared in front of the Royal University Hospital, where he was joined by members of the Saskatchewan Nurses Federation, where he highlighted recent positive polls.
“I know we're going to have to knock on every door and take away every vote, but I feel optimistic,” he told his followers.
“I don't think you should bet everything on one survey, but when I see the momentum, when I see the response we're getting around the corner, I feel very encouraged.”
Meanwhile, Mo campaigned just a few miles away, alongside local candidates in Prairieland Park.
“What we are focused on is forming a majority government, so we can present the plan that we are presenting to the people of Saskatchewan,” Moe said.
“We will aim and aim to win the current government by trying to win each of the 61 (seats) that we have in the province of Saskatchewan.”
The two leaders used the final days of the campaign to present their competing ideas to voters.
Moe says a vote for the NDP will cause the economy to deteriorate, hospitals and schools to close and people to move to other provinces, and his party has a track record of increasing jobs. He says a re-election of the Saskatchewan Party would boost the economy and put more money in people's pockets.
Beck says the county's health care system struggled during Moe's presidency. She says the streets are no longer safe and the county is near the bottom nationally in creating full-time jobs.
She says if elected, she would reform health care, provide more funding for schools and suspend the gas tax for six months.
Polling stations close their doors on Sunday, and will open throughout the province on Monday at nine in the morning
With files from Musa Imran of Global and The Canadian Press
