Souris-Moose Mountain Returning Officer working her 10th election
April 21, 2025, 9:53 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The job of a returning officer during a federal election is multi-faceted, especially when the distance between an election call and Election Day is so short. Margaret Mary Tuchscherer should know, she’s the Returning Officer in Souris-Moose Mountain, based in Weyburn. The current federal election marks the 10th she has worked as Returning Officer, allowing Tuchscherer to witness many changes through that time.
When asked for a brief explanation of what a Returning Officer does, she explained, “to set up the office in the different ridings, to get all the supplies, hire your people to do the poll work, make sure we’ve got people in place to train them, receive the ballots back and wrap up everything and send it back to Ottawa.”
Sounds like a tall task, right?
“Well, it depends on how many days we have to lead in,” Tuchscherer said. “This is a short one, so it really keeps you moving!”
Given the vast size of the Souris-Moose Mountain riding, there are 20 mobile polls, 166 regular polls and 30 advance polls.
“And this election, we are taking in the area of Assiniboia, so we now have three sub-offices in Souris-Moose Mountain,” Tuchscherer explained. “We are located in Weyburn, there’s a sub-office in Whitewood, whom we are fortunate enough to have an AAR (Additional Assistant Returning Officer) running that office that started with me 10 elections ago. We have a sub-office in Estevan, and this time, because we have added the Assiniboia area, we have a sub-office in Assiniboia.”
Including those at the polls, messengers, and office staff, around 800 workers are needed during a federal election in Souris-Moose Mountain.
Advance polls are took place starting on the 18th, which did present unique challenges in finding people available to work over Easter.
“The advance poll was the 18th, the 19th, the 20th and the 21st,” Tuchscherer said. “VIC (Voter Information Card) cards are out in the mail, and your VIC card will tell you that your advance polls were open 9 am to 9 pm”
The VIC cards also explain where voting will take place for both advance dates and Election Day on April 28, which has slightly earlier times from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 pm. In order to vote in the Federal Election, you must be a Canadian citizen, at least 18 years old on Election Day, and be able to prove you identity and address.
“You do have to show some ID just so that we know we have the right person,” Tuchscherer said.
When asked about some of the biggest changes she’s witness through her time as a Returning Officer, Tuchscherer listed her top two.
“Probably the technology, we do things so much differently now,” she said. “It’s not paper-based anymore. And the electoral districts are getting so much larger.”
Tuchscherer was also quick to credit the dedicated people she works with during election time.
“We are so fortunate here in Weyburn, we have so many in our office that come back to do their job time after time,” she said. “You do enjoy it, and I love the process. Even the new candidates you meet each time, they’re all interesting in their own way. It’s a very interesting process.”
