Story #13 in our 2020 Year in Review is the 2020 Saskatchewan General Election, held on Oct. 26.

This would be the first time both Scott Moe of the Saskatchewan Party and Ryan Meili of the NDP would be leading their parties during an election.

The writ was dropped on Sep. 29 and the campaign was off and running with both leaders making numerous stops around the province.

Both parties took shots at the historical record of the other, with the NDP arguing, for example, that the Sask Party failed to utilize Saskatchewan workers and companies in its capital investments. On the other hand, the NDP faced criticism from the Sask Party for the closures of numerous rural hospitals and schools that took place when the NDP was last in power during the early 2000s.

During the Oct. 14 Provincial Leaders Debate, Meili criticized what he saw as harmful austerity measures in the Sask Party's economic platform.

Scott Moe and Ryan Meili joined one another for the Party Leaders Debate. (Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press).

"You were asked...whether you would rule out cuts - you were asked five times, and five times, you refused to do it," queried Meili. "Why would anyone believe you [when you say there will be no cuts] when we saw what happened in 2017? A government that had promised no cuts, had promised not to touch the Crowns, instead, got rid of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company."

For his part, Moe pointed out that the NDP's budget had no specific date set for when the party hoped to balance the province's finances.

"Mr. Meili has no plan to balance the budget. He has a plan to make a plan to balance it...The Saskatchewan Party has a strong plan for recovery and as our economy recovers so will the province's finances. That's why we've put forward a plan to balance the budget by 2024."

The pandemic was at the top of most people's minds this year, and that was reflected in the way Saskatchewanians voted. Due to the desire to minimize transmission, requests for mail-in ballots shot up from less than 5,000 in 2016 to over 61,000 in 2020. There was also an unprecedented rise in advanced voting in the days leading up to Oct. 26.

Because of this, the final tally of the election was delayed by several weeks. Elections Saskatchewan spokesperson Tim Kydd made it clear that those ballots would not be counted until a few days after election day and the final count would only be ready by Nov. 7 at the earliest.

"There will be no final results on [election night]. We have mail-in ballots from all 61 constituencies around the province. We won't receive some of those 61,000 voter packages until a few days after election day."

This delay in the count could have meant everything in races where the margin between candidates was especially tight.

Therefore, Oct. 26 came and went without an official winner.

Nevertheless, even with only having the unofficial results on election night, it was already clear that Scott Moe and the Sask Party would once again be taking a significant majority.

Premier Moe handily won back his seat of Rosthern-Shellbrook. He had this to say on election night.

"I'm so very glad to have so many of my colleagues join me back in the Legislature. And I look forward to working with the new Saskatchewan Party MLAs who were elected for the first time this evening. Tonight, I will give you my word that we will be a government for all the people. Whether you supported the Saskatchewan Party or another party, we will govern for all. We will work to build a strong Saskatchewan for all of us."

NDP leader Ryan Meili was one of those candidates whose confirmation as an MLA could not be determined right away. At the end of the evening, he trailed his Sask Party opponent Rylund Hunter by 83 votes in the riding of Saskatoon Meewasin. There was a total of 1,656 mail-in ballots to be counted in the riding and it was not until Hunter conceded several days later, that Meili's seat in the Legislature was confirmed.

The Candidates for Moose Jaw North and Moose Jaw Wakamow were featured in a virtual all candidates forum hosted by the Moose Jaw Chamber of Commerce. (File photo).

Here in Moose Jaw, Tim McLeod of the Sask Party beat the NDP's Kyle Lichtenwald by 2,201 votes to take the seat of Moose Jaw North. Moose Jaw Wakamow went to Sask Party Incumbent Greg Lawrence who took the win over NDP Melissa Patterson by 822 votes.

This election also saw an unexpected growth in support for the Buffalo Party, formerly known as the Wexit Party among rural ridings. The newcomer party came in second place behind the Sask Party in four ridings around the province.

The Saskatchewan Party now controls 48 out of 61 seats with the NDP holding the remaining 13.