Twelve municipalities will be offering a vote-by-mail option for the upcoming municipal elections for the first time, in addition to the City of St. John’s.

The recent provincial election saw the majority of the electorate required to use the mail-in process due to an outbreak of COVID-19.

With the pandemic still upon us, many towns and cities are offering this format to ensure the safety of residents.

Brian Hudson, the President of the Professional Municipal Administrators and Chief Administrative Officer with the Town of Pasadena says these municipalities will see less of a demand on their workers on election day itself, but an increased workload following the closing of the polls. However, he doesn’t believe that will be a challenge.

He says they’ve put together an elaborate training process that the City of St. John’s was a part of, as they have used that format successfully for a few election cycles. He doesn’t foresee any major troubles.

Hudson also notes that the vote-by-mail process gives municipalities added protection against the pandemic.

He says should anything change in the public health situation, these thirteen municipalities will already have a dedicated system in place to fall back on.