Election 2021 Newfoundland

The St. Johns Telegram, Newfoundland's largest newspaper, has a hard-hitting editorial on the Newfoundland election shambles, not only for Newfoundlanders but for all Canadians. It calls for major electoral reform so that elections are not run to benefit the governing party, but for the people, and to introduce proportional representation. 

The 48.0% voter turnout was down 12.1% from the last election and 7% below the previous lowest turnout in Newfouundland reflecting the problems created by Covid and raising questions about legitimacy of the election, especially for voters, such as the poor, elderly, indigenous, those with disabilities, and those in Labrador, who found it more difficult if not impossible to vote. I predict this question will hang over the Furey Liberal government, and even more so if he brings in an austerity budget that he did not run on. 

With regard to how bad it became for marginalized groups to vote,  the riding of Torngat Mountains gives a vivid picture of the story. The voter turnout drop in Torngat Mountains, the northernmost riding in the province, which also is heavily indigenous, reflects the legitimacy problems created by Covid, especially for the economcially and digitally disadvantaged. I immediately noticed the low voter turnout of 473 votes (PC 420, NDP 37, Liberal 16) as the results came in and looked up the 2019 results when 1,117 people voted there (PC 623, Lib 478 spoiled 17, with no NDP candidate), resulting in a 58% drop in voter turnout from 2019. Just 22% of eligible voters voted. The collapse of the Liberal vote in just two years from 43.5% of the vote to 3.4% of the vote may also be reflecting the fact that many voters in Turngat Mountains protested that the set-up of the Covid mail-in vote was denying many of the ridings residents the right to vote and those who did vote therefore turned against the Liberals. 

The citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador have now lived through the strangest election in our history and the engagement of the electorate during this election is worrisome for our democracy.

In terms of results, there wasn't a great deal of change. The Liberal Party won 20 seats in the 2019 election for a minority government, had one member kicked out of caucus to become an independent during their period of power, and won a slim majority this time around with 22 seats out of 40. This is similar to trends in other provinces that have held elections during the pandemic, where the party in power either gained or increased their majority during the election.

But that's about the only thing in common with other provinces during this strange election.

The system needs to be fixed so that future elections do not continue this trend of reduced participation of the voting public. The Election Act needs to be amended to clarify the rights and responsibilities of election officials to avoid the confusion and uncertainties that plagued this election.

While other provinces saw either a small drop or similar voter turnout in their elections, there was a significant drop in voter participation in this province, which accelerated a process that has been ongoing for a while. In 2015, voter turnout was 61 per cent; in 2019, it dropped to around 58 per cent, and in 2021, it was only around 48 per cent.

In a strange twist that few had predicted, two of the seats that the Liberals picked up were the seats of both opposition leaders, meaning that both the Progressive Conservatives and the New Democratic Party will not have leaders sitting in the house. A small change in number of seats has led to a big shift in power and this shift was based on the lowest voter turnout in this province's history; strange times indeed, and not a healthy sign for the troubled times we are facing in this province.

The system needs to be fixed so that future elections do not continue this trend of reduced participation of the voting public. The Election Act needs to be amended to clarify the rights and responsibilities of election officials to avoid the confusion and uncertainties that plagued this election.

The time is ripe to do a major overhaul of our elections and bring in proportional representation so all voters can feel their votes count. That people voted for three independent candidates, something that is unprecedented in Newfoundland, shows a level of frustration with the present system and a desire for members who can represent their constituents more than a political party.

In an odd juxtaposition, while we hope to increase voter participation here in Canada, many states in America are enacting laws that aim to restrict voter participation after the past election. I'm not sure which of us has the biggest problem, but neither is healthy for our democracies, and it appears that such decisions are being driven more in the self-interest of the political party over what is best for citizens.

https://www.thetelegram.com/opinion/local-perspectives/brian-hodder-put-...

Here's more on NDP Leader Alison Coffin's application  at the Newfoundland Supreme Court that argues that the provincial election was illegal and should not be considered valid.

The defeated head of Newfoundland and Labrador's New Democratic Party is leading the charge in a legal action demanding last month's election results be thrown out and a new vote ordered.

Alison Coffin and another applicant, a St. John's resident who claims he was denied the right to vote, jointly filed a court challenge Monday containing scathing accusations against Newfoundland and Labrador's elections agency, alleging widespread and illegal mishandling of the electoral process and demanding the province's Supreme Court void the election's outcome.

The 45-page application — a separate challenge from the one that Coffin filed earlier this month, requesting a vote recount in her district — argues that the process employed by Elections NL discriminated against voters on the basis of ethnicity, age or disability, disproportionately excluding people without access to the internet and people in Indigenous communities.

"We need to know what happened in this election to ensure that it does not go wrong in the next election," Coffin said Monday. "That is the impetus for this action today."

NDP provincial president Kyle Rees clarified Monday afternoon the application will target the St. John's East-Quidi Vidi district. Liberal candidate John Abbott unseated Coffin by 53 votes. 

"We are specifically bringing evidence related to that district, but there's no reason why the lessons that we learn from this district … can't be applied broadly across the province," said Rees, adding that a judge could overturn results in all 40 districts based on this application.

In addition to voiding results, the application demands an unspecified payment of damages to the joint applicants. ...

The application specifically names Elections NL head Bruce Chaulk as a respondent, alleging that Chaulk "failed to discharge [his legal] duties in the manner required of him, most notably with respect to his duty to ensure that the election proceeded with fairness, impartiality, and in compliance with the [Elections] Act, and that [Chaulk] failed to act in good faith."

Abbott, now the Liberal MHA for St. John's East-Quidi Vidi, is also named in the application as a respondent, alongside returning electoral officer Sherry Morrissey.

In the document reviewed by CBC News, Coffin submitted an affidavit alleging that she heard from more than one registered voter who requested a ballot and did not receive one, and that there were "many individuals" who were added to the voters' list by phone "without being properly sworn and providing proper identification." ...

Coffin's co-applicant, Whymarrh Whitby of St. John's, also swore an affidavit saying that he submitted a request for a special ballot on Feb. 13, just hours after chief electoral officer Bruce Chaulk cancelled in-person voting.  Whitby says he did not receive a ballot before the deadline to return votes to the elections agency, and therefore was denied his right to vote. ... Whitby alleges he called the agency twice in the days leading up to that deadline but was not called back and was not offered an alternative means to vote.

The document lists 28 specific "irregularities," any one of which it says "would be sufficient to call into question the validity of the results of an election."

That list includes Chaulk's decision to hand-deliver ballots, including to at least two candidates: former PC leader Ches Crosbie and Liberal cabinet minister Siobhan Coady.

The application also alleges that the process of issuing ballots broke the law, and contains an affidavit from a special ballot co-ordinator, who claims officials processed a "large number" of ballot requests by phone and observed elections staff mailing ballots without verifying the identity of the voter.  ...

Some callers also requested ballots for family members, although it wasn't confirmed any family members lived at the given address, that affidavit said.

Jud Vanta, an experienced NDP scrutineer, claimed in another affidavit that she was prevented from fully observing the act of vote-counting by COVID-19 restrictions, and was not permitted to look at vote tallies or summaries.  "When I tried to view these tally and summary sheets, Elections NL staff would shield the papers from view with their bodies," Vanta's statement says. 

Vanta, who described encountering various other obstructions in trying to carry out her duties, said she was later permitted to review some summary sheets, and noticed at least one tallying error when she did so.

She also described seeing a number of rejected ballots she believed did not qualify as spoilage. At least 1,337 ballots were rejected, according to data published Monday by the Newfoundland and Labrador Gazette, the official publication of the provincial government. In comparison, Elections NL rejected 899 ballots in the 2015 election. ...

In her own legal statement, Coffin outlined various other grievances with the election, including "multiple extensions of the writ period, the failure of [Chaulk] to facilitate in-person voting on polling day, [and] multiple changes to voting day," as well as Chaulk's refusal to meet with the party to discuss these concerns.  Chaulk said at the time his office was an independent institution that "will not become involved in political partisanship between the parties." The chief electoral officer continues to refuse all interview requests from CBC. He has not granted an interview to the public broadcaster since early March. ...

Immediately after filing the application, Coffin and Rees addressed reporters, defending their submission by framing it as an act of "duty" to electors frustrated by obstacles to voting at every turn. Rees said a court challenge supplied benefits that other avenues did not, including legally compelling respondents to speak to the raised issues.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/ndp-court-challenge...

Another candidate, PC Jim Lester, in addition to NDP leader Alison Coffin, is asking the courts to void the election in his riding because of the way the election was run. 

After losing his seat by 109 votes in last month's provincial election, PC candidate Jim Lester is turning to the courts in the hopes of having the results voided and a new election called in his former district, but he also wants a ruling on whether the vote adhered to Newfoundland and Labrador legislation. 

"It's very important to have faith in the outcome of elections," Lester told reporters on Wednesday. 

Liberal Lucy Stoyles won the district of Mount Pearl North with 2,428 votes, compared with 2,319 cast for Lester.  ...

He's asking the courts to examine whether the campaign process was "in line with what's constitutionally and legally accepted" under the province's Elections Act.

"One of the biggest concerns that I have … is the sign-up of voters by phone," Lester said. But, he said, he heard of other problems that plagued the 10-plus week campaign. He said a senior told him they repeatedly called Elections NL when their ballot didn't arrive, despite registering several weeks ahead of time.  "What really affected our voters was the outbreak of the COVID virus," he added. 

He said a lot of his supporters are working families, people who had a lot of "stress factors" that affected their ability to sign up for mail-in ballots.  ...

NDP Leader Alison Coffin filed court papers on April 1 for a recount in the district of St. John's East-Quidi Vidi, where she lost her seat to Liberal John Abbott by 53 votes. ...

Less than two weeks after that, Coffin and another applicant, filed a separate legal action demanding last month's election results be thrown out and a new vote ordered. Alison Coffin and another applicant, a St. John's resident who claims he was denied the right to vote, jointly filed a court challenge Monday containing scathing accusations against Newfoundland and Labrador's elections agency, alleging widespread and illegal mishandling of the electoral process and demanding the province's Supreme Court void the election's outcome. ...

NDP provincial president Kyle Rees clarified Monday afternoon the application will target the St. John's East-Quidi Vidi district.  "We are specifically bringing evidence related to that district, but there's no reason why the lessons that we learn from this district … can't be applied broadly across the province," said Rees, adding that a judge could overturn results in all 40 districts based on this application.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/jim-lester-recount-...

NDP leader Alison Coffin's application for a recount in the St. John's riding she lost by 53 votes was turned down last week. She still has filed a companion application that seeks a controverted election under Part II of the election act, which could void the results of the general election, as have two PC candidates. 

The COVID-19 pandemic caused delays in the Liberal leadership race in 2020 when he faced off against Premier Andrew Furey, and then the pandemic caused delays this past winter in the provincial election and a court application asking for a recount in his district delayed him being sworn in as an MHA.

That court case ended last week, with the court turning down the application.

Abbott had unseated NDP Leader Alison Coffin in the district by 53 votes, and Coffin asked the court for a recount.

With no recount forthcoming, Abbott was finally sworn in as a member of the House of Assembly on Tuesday — more than seven weeks since the results of the provincial election were announced. ...

There is, however, another hurdle that could trip Abbott’s path ahead.

There are three other applications before the court arising from the election. 

Former Progressive Conservative candidates Sheila Fitzgerald and Jim Lester have also filed applications with the court to have the results in their districts overturned. They hope to have the general election results in these districts voided. If successful, it could affect the entire election.

In addition, the NDP filed a companion application that seeks a controverted election under Part II of the act, which could void the results of the general election.

Abbott says he is optimistic that process will come out in his favour.

https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/john-abbott-sworn-in-as-li...