Elections Yukon says that enumerators will begin visiting Yukon homes on April 15 to put together a permanent list of electors prior to this year’s territorial election.
The enumeration will continue until May 2. It will begin early in West Dawson and Sunnydale, before the ice road breaks up.
The list allows Elections Yukon to send electors accurate information about where to vote.
Recent changes to Yukon’s Elections Act mean that Elections Yukon is allowed to create a permanent list of voters for the first time.
During previous elections, lists of voters were copied by hand, said Dave Wilkie, Yukon’s assistant chief electoral officer.
But this year, Yukon will use the same computer program already used by the other territories.
“That’s a big improvement, as people’s handwriting isn’t always very easy to read,” Wilkie said.
He said Yukon and Manitoba are the last two jurisdictions in Canada to adopt a permanent list.
The permanent list will include electors’ full names and residential and mailing addresses.
Enumerators will also collect birth dates and genders, but that information won’t be given to political parties or candidates. Wilkie said those data allow Elections Yukon to differentiate between people with the same name.
Wilkie said voters will also be asked to allow Elections Yukon to gather information from Elections Canada and from driver’s licence changes to keep track of residents’ changing addresses.
During future elections, enumerators won’t need to keep returning to every home. Wilkie said they will focus on high turnover areas, like apartment blocks, care homes and new subdivisions like Whistle Bend.
This will also be the first time the enumeration takes place before the writ has been dropped, which will give Elections Yukon more time, Wilkie said.
Eligible voters are also encouraged to contact Elections Yukon if they’d like to earn extra income by working as an enumerator in their community.