St. John’s Mayor Danny Breen says two decades of experience with mail-in ballots prepared the city for its recent pandemic election.

The election cost just over $350,000, on par with the average going back to 2001.

Extra costs associated with doubling the number of satellite drop-off centres was offset by lower labour costs, but that wasn’t a good thing.

Problems hiring staff was flagged as a big problem, mainly due to a lack of incentives, coupled with concerns over being on the front lines during the pandemic.

Voter turnout was also down over past years, with just over 47 per cent casting ballots.

Mayor Breen says there are logical reasons for that. He says much of it can be attributed to voter fatigue, after going through a provincial election, and then a federal election in the midst of the municipal election. Breen says it didn’t help that both the mayor and deputy positions were acclaimed.

Of the roughly 33,000 votes cast, 478 were rejected, most because the voter declaration form was not included, or it was wrongly or not signed at all.