The Lumsden-Morse constituency is holding an upcoming byelection on Aug. 10, and this will be held at the Canswan Building at 83 Ominica Street West in Moose Jaw.
The byelection was called after the previous Lumsden-Morse MLA, Lyle Stewart, resigned for health reasons.
“After he resigned, you have six months for a by-election to be called to elect a new member for the constituency,” explained Joyce Holland, the returning officer for the Lumsden-Morse riding.
This year’s Lumsden-Morse candidates are Les Guillemin with the Buffalo Party of Saskatchewan; Kaitlyn Stadnyk with the New Democratic Party (NDP); Isaiah Hunter with the Saskatchewan Green Party; Blaine McLeod with the Saskatchewan Party; and Jon Hromek with the Saskatchewan United Party.
There are two additional elections scheduled for the same date. These will be held at the Regina Coronation Park and at Regina Walsh Acres, but these locations do not include Lumsden-Morse polling.
In the Lumsden-Morse constituency, there will be five tech poll locations and 16 manual polling stations.
“We have such a large rural area,” said Holland. “We need to give those voters the opportunity to vote. They would be more than an hour away from (some) tech voting location(s).”
Moose Jaw has a tech poll only. “If you come to Moose Jaw, you will be voting with the new technology.”
Tech polling differs by viewing the candidate list on a secure computer screen, but you still mark your choice on a physical ballot. When the vote is competed, the ballot will drop into a locked and secure box.
“With these new tech polls, we want to make sure those things go smoothly,” said Holland. “We have a field technician (to assist), tabulators to help and make sure the machine doing the counting is operating correctly.”
Each polling location has at least a Deputy Returning Officer (DRO), sometimes a Poll Clerk, and sometimes an Information Officer available.
There is some controversy surrounding the upcoming election. With the writ being dropped unexpectedly on July 13, the election date lines up with the start of harvest. For many in the rural constituency, it can be challenging to make the time to vote.
“It’s a tough time to call an election for people, because of holidays and this is a very rural constituency. Calling it when they are starting to harvest has been a little controversial,” explained Holland. “We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know when.”
Anyone interested in working at a future election can do so by visiting Elections.sk.ca. “We will be looking for workers for the next election, and they can already express interest (for that election),” said Holland. She noted that all positions have been filled for this upcoming election.
Anyone who visits the website can view job qualifications and can apply for any jobs they express interest in. “Depending on their qualifications, a Returning Officer will assign them to something suitable,” she said.
Polling details
“This byelection is not for anyone living in Moose Jaw, to be very clear,” explained Holland. “We are the rural area around (Moose Jaw). We are Lumsden-Morse; Moose Jaw has its own constituencies… and they are not voting at this time.”
“Anyone in the whole constituency can go to any one of these tech locations on the first five days of voting and vote at that location,” said Holland. “It’s only on the final day (Aug. 10) that (voters) are limited to their own area.”
Tech polls will be open Aug. 3 – 8 but will be closed on Aug. 7 for the Saskatchewan Day stat holiday. On Aug. 9, polling will once again close in preparation for the August 10 polling date.
“All the polls are open on Aug. 10,” said Holland. This includes the five tech polls and 16 manual polls throughout the constituency.
Voting hours are 12 a.m. – 8 p.m., but on August 10 they are open 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.
To access the Moose Jaw location, Holland asks that voters use the southwest entrance. For anybody with mobility issues, there’s a wheelchair-accessible ramp at the northwest corner of the building. Parking is available in the adjacent lot to the south, at Safeway, or along Ominica Street West.
For a list of parties and their platforms, you can visit the Elections.sk.ca website and click on the link to each separate party.
To view the list of voting locations, visit the list of locations on the Elections.sk.ca site.
If you are a qualified homebound voter, information is available on the Homebound Voter Information and Application form.
The Moose Jaw location can be contacted by calling 1-833-398-0370 or 306-693-7016. They can also be reached by email at lum@elections.sk.ca.
